Halo, Destiny composer & audio director Martin O'Donnell fired by Bungie

So far, 2014 has seen many games industry veterans leaving companies or shifting around. Bungie is the latest developer to see the departure of one of their most established and famed members: audio director and composer Martin "Marty" O'Donnell. Interestingly enough, the news came tonight when he tweeted that he was fired "without cause."

O'Donnell was working with Mike Salvatori and Paul McCartney on the score for the upcoming title Destiny and crafted the iconic music found in the first several Halo games. After working on projects for Bungie, a few years prior, he joined the company in 1999, making him one of the studio's longest serving employees.

Another longtime Bungie employee, lead writer and cinematics director Joseph Staten, left last September after being with the studio since 1998. He served as the lead writer and design director on Destiny before returning back to Microsoft to work on an unannounced project.

Being a Bungie fan for many years (love the Marathon trilogy), I find it disheartening to see some of their best talent leaving so suddenly. Hopefully, these departures will not have a negative effect on Destiny.

PSU will update this story with any new developments.