Former Destiny 2 developer and Marathon director Christopher Barrett has filed a lawsuit against Sony and Bungie, which claims that the companies deliberately damaged his reputation and avoided paying him a substantial sum in his employment agreement. The lawsuit was filed months after the Destiny 2 developer was reportedly fired from Bungie in March 2024 following an internal investigation.

In August 2024, a Bloomberg report revealed that the Marathon director was fired in March after an internal investigation by Bungie. According to the report, at least eight female employees raised complaints about Barrett's behavior toward them. Multiple women, who were not named while discussing private information, claimed that Barrett would text them frequently, make suggestive comments and unwanted advances, and ask to play truth-or-dare. Reports that were filed by the employees also claimed that Barrett would make references to his wealth and power within Bungie, implying that he could advance their careers. Barrett refuted these claims and stated that he "always conducted himself with integrity and respect" for his colleagues, and further developments were not disclosed until Barrett's latest post on social media.

On December 12, former Destiny 2 developer Christopher Barrett shared a statement on Twitter, revealing that he filed a lawsuit against Sony and Bungie. The lawsuit alleges that "Sony and Bungie deliberately destroyed Barrett's reputation" by falsely and publicly insinuating that they had "investigated" Barrett and "found" he had engaged in sexual misconduct, according to the VentureBeat report that Barrett shared. Moreover, the lawsuit claims that Barrett was never asked in the investigation whether he had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct and discriminatory actions against female colleagues. Barrett was notified of his termination via Microsoft Teams, in which he was told that he engaged in unspecified "gross misconduct" and would be terminated for "Cause."

pic.twitter.com/zEQ0G5nfEe

— Christopher Barrett (@oryxeleven) December 12, 2024

The lawsuit alleges that Sony and Bungie deliberately damaged Barrett's reputation by falsely stating that Barrett engaged in sexual misconduct.
Barrett's firing lets Sony and Bungie save $45 million from a payment promised to the former Marathon director, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit suggests Sony and Bungie are trying to place some blame on Barrett for Marathon's development troubles.

Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie is brought up in the lawsuit as a factor that led to Barrett's termination, with the lawsuit alleging that the defendants could save $45 million and place blame on Barrett for Marathon's development troubles. This $45 million sum is a payment that Barrett was entitled to with his employment agreement at Bungie, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also touches on the August 2024 Bloomberg report, claiming that misleading statements were provided to the publication in order to deflect blame for Sony's "poorly performing" acquisition and various delays in video game production.

Due to the lawsuit, Barrett is unable to speak more on the matter, but he did thank fans and people who've supported him previously at Bungie. It's unclear what the outcome of this lawsuit could entail for Bungie, but it adds to some of the troubles that the studio has faced in the past year. This includes Bungie's mass layoffs in July 2024, which happened shortly after the launch of Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion.

Posted: 3 hours, 27 minutes ago
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/ex-destiny-dev-sony-bungie-lawsuit/