The legendary musician has been compensated after being fired unjustly.
Marty O’Donnell, the composer of the Halo trilogy, Halo: Reach, and Destiny, has just recently won a legal feud against the developer Bungie, his old employer.
The court has ruled that Bungie violated its contract with O’Donnell after he was fired from the studio “without cause.” The company is also guilty of not compensating O’Donnell for unused vacation time, sabbatical, and other benefits.
O’Donnell will walk away with over $142,500 through a profit participation program, with more payments on the way. He also has close to 200,000 shares in Bungie stock, which he will recover for an undisclosed sum.
The composer had this about his results of the court case:
“I’m happy this is over, and I’m ready to move on.” (via Gamesbeat)
While this legal battle had gone on for a little over a year, the fallout between O’Donnell and Bungie began earlier. Apparently, for the E3 2013 Destiny trailer, the music O’Donnell had composed was switched at the last-minute for the work of another composer. This action greatly upset O’Donnell and caused a riff between him and his longtime studio, which eventually led to the drama detailed above.
While at Bungie, O’Donnell was responsible for some of the most incredible and defining video game music ever scored. It is a shame that his relationship with Bungie ended on a sour note, but we will indeed hear more music from him in the future, as he has gone on to create a new game studio called Highwire Games.
Here’s a textbook example of what O’Donnell has contributed to the video game industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfs2V-4K9is
