Earlier this year, Marathon Director Chris Barrett was replaced by Joe Ziegler as part of a reported leadership shake-up, but as it turns out, that wasn’t the whole story, as sources reporting to Bloomberg claim that Barrett was fired by Bungie after an internal investigation into alleged misconduct filed by “at least eight” female employees.
According to the studio’s findings, Barrett befriended multiple female workers at different departments then flooded them with “text messages that blurred the lines between professional and personal,” invited female employees to play truth or dare, and made suggestions that his wealth and power could be leveraged to advance employees’ careers. The report also claims that employees working on Marathon weren’t informed of Barrett’s firing, instead being told he was on sabbatical, after which his company accounts were shut off.
Barrett made a statement to Bloomberg on the matter, claiming that he didn’t realize his communications were “unwanted” and that he “never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable.” Sony Interactive Entertainment, meanwhile, simply stated that it takes misconduct allegations very seriously, handles them promptly, and takes immediate action based on internal findings.
