Bungie dev would’ve made $84 million from Sony purchase but was fired instead

Bungie veteran Christopher Barrett, who was fired by Bungie earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit against the studio which claims he stood to earn a sizeable payout from the studio’s sale to Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2022.

Barrett, who had been a game director on Marathon and had previously worked on Destiny, Halo, and Myth in his time at the studio, has dubbed the investigation into his behaviour which led to his termination earlier this year as a “sham”, with an 82-page lawsuit against Sony and Bungie for breach of contract and defamation.

Barrett’s employment was terminated after 25 years at the studio in April 2024 following accusations of inappropriate behaviour with several female employees.

Ex-Bungie dev reportedly missed out on millions following firing

As per Gamefile, Barrett suggests the studio’s investigation into claims his behaviour with female colleagues should be reviewed, while also sharing an Equity Report from 2022.

The numbers show that, had he not been fired, he was set to make $84 million from the deal which saw Sony Interactive Entertainment purchase the studio, with $35 million paid at closing, and a further $45 million to come.

It’s a sobering dichotomy with Bungie’s fortunes in 2024, with the studio laying off huge numbers of staff amid “rising costs of development” and “industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions”. Some Bungie staff have been moved into a new studio at Sony to work on an incubation project.

Destiny 2’s Final Shape expansion launched in June 2024 and is widely regarded as the best in the long-running game’s history, but was followed by rounds of layoffs at the studio.

Before his termination, Barrett had been working on Marathon, a PvP shooter which would reboot one of Bungie’s prior franchises. Reports have suggested that the game has since pivoted from an extraction shooter to a hero shooter following negative playtests last year.