One of the most important employees of Bungie for Destiny 2 and especially for Bungie’s new game, Marathon, was Chris Barrett. He had been with Bungie since 1999, but abruptly left the company in April 2023, as was only revealed months later. Now, the renowned journalist Jason Schreier reports that Barrett had to leave because he made unwanted sexual advances toward female colleagues. Barrett himself denies this.
Who was Chris Barrett at Destiny and Bungie?
- Christopher “Chris” Barrett had been with Bungie since 1999. He worked as a designer on Myth 2: Soulblighter. During the Halo days, he took on leadership roles in the areas of Environment Artist and Campaign Environment – for Destiny, he was the Art Director, meaning he was responsible for the look of the game.
- He rose to prominence with “House of Wolves” in May 2015. He was the Creative Director and essentially the head of the B-Team. He also led Destiny: Rise of Iron in September 2016.
- After that, a major promotion was on the horizon, as he was set to lead Marathon, the next big game from Destiny, as Game Director. But in March 2024, it became known that he had already left Bungie in April 2023 and had been replaced by Joe Ziegler months earlier. At that time, it was referred to as a “creative renewal” – today it is known that there were other reasons for his departure.
Barrett was supposed to lead Marathon:
Barrett reportedly emphasized to female employees how rich and powerful he is
What was he supposed to have done? According to Jason Schreier for Bloomberg , Chris Barrett allegedly made numerous remarks to female colleagues in “a flood of text messages,” where the lines between private and work became blurred. Schreier says he got this information from several women who filed complaints against Barrett. He also spoke with people who investigated the case for Bungie.
The messages were reportedly perceived by the women as “unwanted” and made them feel “uncomfortable.” Barrett sent flirtatious messages and asked if they wanted to hang out together.
Barrett allegedly behaved inappropriately towards “at least 8 employees.”
What was the official reason given? According to Schreier, an investigation by Human Resources revealed the following misconduct by Barrett:
“He called female lower-level employees attractive, encouraged them to play ‘Truth or Dare,’ and referenced his wealth and power within the studio, suggesting that he could further their careers.”
What does Barrett say about this? In a statement to Bloomberg, he says:
I feel that I have always behaved with integrity and have respected and supported my colleagues, many of whom I consider my closest friends. I never viewed my communications as unwanted and would never have thought that they could cause anyone discomfort. If anyone ever felt that they had an encounter with me, I sincerely apologize.
This time we are likely to learn the reasons why the Game Director left the game and it underwent a reboot. To this day, it is unclear what exactly happened with Destiny 2 at that time that caused the game to suddenly take a completely different direction than initially intended: A reboot two years ago likely determined the fate of Destiny 2
