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[Piers]

It's Activision's job to market the game including trailers and considering the market buzz before launch and subsequent sales they knew what they were doing.

Perhaps a sweeping Halo lite theme wasn't the best choice for your companies new/biggest franchise.

This. Activision were promoting Destiny, not Marty's soundtrack. There could be a bunch of environment designers pissed off that their work wasn't shown off in the trailer too.

 

[Bru]

Don't you pay attention at all?

It's obvious that I'm payed by Activision.

It's all suddenly become clear. It was your composition Activision used in the trailer instead of Marty's! ;-)

 

[GlamFM]

It's all suddenly become clear. It was your composition Activision used in the trailer instead of Marty's! ;-)

What an epic twist that would be!

I actually am a composer, but I mostly make music for commercials and TV shows.

Never made music for a game - would really like to one day though!

 

[cartoon_soldier]

This. Activision were promoting Destiny, not Marty's soundtrack. There could be a bunch of environment designers pissed off that their work wasn't shown off in the trailer too.

Marty's music was always integral to Halo and it's appeal and marketing. To say it wouldn't have worked similarly for Destiny is strange. In the end Marty had creative control over these things and Activision wanted to take it away.

 

[Mixolydian]

I love this outcome so hard.

Rock on, Marty.

 

[elohel]

Did anyone actually read the article or just root for Marty?

Seems like he wasn't happy and stopped doing his work because his work wasn't being promoted enough

Is this wrong?

 

[StrangeTaco]

I do think that the usual reflex to jump on Marty's side because Activision is sitting on the other one is simply wrong here.

Hardly, people were shit talking Marty constantly in other threads before this article.

 

[thenexus6]

Yes Marty!! This should help kickstart his new company / venture a little.

 

[MMaRsu]

Sure, and after Marty didn't get what he wanted everybody else stayed professional while he started acting like a child who didn't get his ice cream.

It sounds like you were there. Do you have any more insights or are you going based on this article? Because it really takes someone to call this man who has done ( probably more than yourself ) amazing compositions, and here you are calling this person a child for wanting his artistic integrity to not be compromised by suits at Activision.

You sure are something

 

[Trup1aya]

Let's not forget that Marty as a stock holder and member of the board "sold out" to Activision just like everybody else did.

I also think everybody should differentiate between a trailer and an actual game.

The trailer is a marketing tool, the game is the actual work (of art).

Marty's music for the game was never affected.

This is how modern trailers are.

Sometimes they don't show the actual game, oftentimes they are cg, sometimes live action.

They often use licensed music that's not found in the game.

They are often directed by external directors who bring in their own music - it's just how it goes.

Marty should have chilled the fuck out, but his arrogance got in the way.

Nah I think you and I have different understandings of what it means to be a sell out...

Yes, money changed hands when Bungie signed the deal with Activision... That doesn't make anyone a sell out. That's business...

But the agreement was, Bungie makes the game, Activision publishes it... Then Activision comes in and intentionally misrepresents the games artwork and content when marketing it to potential customers... Marty saw this as Activision lying to his fans... And rightfully so... Any true artist would be absolutely outraged... Marty thought his comrades, the same ones who stood up against MS, would be against this mischaracterization... However, they deemed their paycheck from Activision more important than being truthful. That's when you've become a sell out.

Being honest suddenly becomes being troublesome... He should've succumb to the Borg I guess...

Edit: And then once you consider how the story was gutted, and repurposed into the over priced DLC... It's clear to me that Activision's influence screwed with the overall artistry of the title in more ways than just the audio.

 

[AP90]

Welp, that explains a lot, especially relative to the final release date.

This. Good for for Martin! And makes me think even more highly of Activision (

Spoiler

greedy + controlling

).

And less of bungie IMO on top of their let down on Destiny, which I purchased the LE Digital Guardian Editon day one (which I stopped playing because of its disorganized gameplay and incomplete/removed story elements so that they could milk the franchise).

If bungie was going to bow down and succumb to publishers meddling (Activision), might have as well stayed with MS or gone to Sony as they are the lesser evils.

 

[Deku Tree]

Marty knows what to do and what can't be done. It sounds to me like he secretly wanted out, and so started acting just barely badly enough to make them fire him but to not really give them cause to do so. When he wasn't fired the first time he acted out, then he started phoning it in at work and so he made them force him out.

 

[mcrommert]

It might be easy to demonise Bungie, but I can see both sides honestly. When new management comes into down it becomes difficult. I love Marty's passion, and band of brothers mentality, but I can also see Bungie's management perspective. They have a lot at stake, a company to run, families to feed and pay checks to cash. I know it's a romantic notion to flip the bird at the man, but that path is not always possible. Marty is an artist, passionate to the end and no doubt stood for what he believed in, artistic integrity (I salute you).. But Ryan and co also had a new paradigm to work in and their employees future to think of. It's not so black and white.

tl;dr Big money, big corporations, big problems

E: also there was no need to screw Marty over with shares and not paying, that's Activision flexing corporate muscle, probably to keep in check any fellow employees who sympathised with Marty's ideals.

Great post

This is honestly it...marty cared more for his creative freedom he obviously enjoyed before activision and believed it was integral to what Bungie was. I agree. Management didn't so they had every right to fire him.

What they didn't have a right to do was shitbox him and try to take his money. Marty has some serious equity there and that does not rely on his work performance. Bungie and Activision come off super bad in all this. Also Marty was always more than just a composer at Bungie

 

[Kor of Memory]

Everyone still going on about how the grass is greener and how Bungie/Microsoft was way better than Bungie/Activision is cracking me up.

Pretty sure if Marty wanted to head over to 343i after he left Bungie he probably could have, yet obviously didn't.

In fact, some people left 343i to go work with him, so there is still something at Microsoft that is scaring people away.

 

[Hockeymac18]

Everyone still going on about how the grass is greener and how Bungie/Microsoft was way better than Bungie/Activision is cracking me up.

Pretty sure if Marty wanted to head over to 343i after he left Bungie he probably could have, yet obviously didn't.

In fact, some people left 343i to go work with him, so there is still something at Microsoft that is scaring people away.

And a few people have left Bungie and gone to MS...so maybe there is something at big old evil MS that isn't so bad.

Or maybe... Just maybe, this is the real world and they're all just companies. That in the end aren't all that different from each other.

 

[StUnNeR H2K]

Everyone still going on about how the grass is greener and how Bungie/Microsoft was way better than Bungie/Activision is cracking me up.

Pretty sure if Marty wanted to head over to 343i after he left Bungie he probably could have, yet obviously didn't.

In fact, some people left 343i to go work with him, so there is still something at Microsoft that is scaring people away.

Doesn't mean anything is wrong at Microsoft. Some people may just want to work on something besides Halo. It's the main reason Bungie wanted out in first place.

 

[AP90]

Everyone still going on about how the grass is greener and how Bungie/Microsoft was way better than Bungie/Activision is cracking me up.

Pretty sure if Marty wanted to head over to 343i after he left Bungie he probably could have, yet obviously didn't.

In fact, some people left 343i to go work with him, so there is still something at Microsoft that is scaring people away.

Well they did just do some serious reorganizing and layouts as a result of restructuring. But that fear can always be looking in the background with corporate America.

And for some people it may have been a better bet joint Martin as he is sort of a creative genius who helped shape the fps/scifi shooter genre due to music. I mean with games, the music is half the battle.

Like imagine how Ori and the blind forest would have been if it had a lesser quality soundtrack. I mean id say the music made 30% of that game IMO.

 

[Shrennin]

Everyone still going on about how the grass is greener and how Bungie/Microsoft was way better than Bungie/Activision is cracking me up.

Pretty sure if Marty wanted to head over to 343i after he left Bungie he probably could have, yet obviously didn't.

In fact, some people left 343i to go work with him, so there is still something at Microsoft that is scaring people away.

I think only one person left 343i to join Marty, and that's also joining Marty's new company. The person who left 343i decided to stay with Microsoft over Bungie initially. There are also plenty of Bungie alum still at Microsoft (and all of them aren't even at 343i, like Joe Staten). I imagine that Bungie's working relationship with Microsoft was good. You shouldn't forget that Microsoft had to approve letting Bungie go independent. Most others probably wouldn't have done that. It's also completely obvious now that Microsoft was far better at managing Bungie than Bungie.

It also makes sense that Marty wanted to form his own studio, as he can now have more direct control in game development.

 

[...Scatter...]

It was obvious the situation was toxic. Marty was fed up by the direction of his beloved company but couldn't just quit because he'd be giving up millions. It clearly states if he quit he'd be forfeiting shares. So he felt he had to stay and it ended up with him being more and more disgruntled as time went on. Corporate meetings can be a pain in the ass when people have different visions and when you as a company founder become marginalized by a dude that used to be the game tester. (no disrespect to Ryan, as he obviously worked hard to move up).

The situation came to a head. They should have just bought Marty out and they could have moved on amicably. Good luck to both sides.

 

[fixedpoint]

Love his work.

edit - maybe this is more apt

 

[Deku Tree]

I think only one person left 343i to join Marty, and that's also joining Marty's new company. The person who left 343i decided to stay with Microsoft over Bungie initially. There are also plenty of Bungie alum still at Microsoft (and all of them aren't even at 343i, like Joe Staten). I imagine that Bungie's working relationship with Microsoft was good. You shouldn't forget that Microsoft had to approve letting Bungie go independent. Most others probably wouldn't have done that.

When all the employees could easily just mass quit and re-gather under a new company, it's hard to see how MS had a choice in "letting" Bungie go independent. They signed a three game deal, and part of that was Bungie's independence.

Jason Jones and Bungie was planning to make Destiny afterwards and own the IP no matter what, and that was never going to be approved by MS.

 

[ObiDin]

Yeah, Bungie stripping him of his stock shares without compensation was criminal. Can't believe there wasn't a punitive ruling here beyond restoring his shares. Great article and good on Marty for fighting for what was his.

 

[Shrennin]

When all the employees could easily just mass quit and re-gather under a new company, it's hard to see how MS had a choice in "letting" Bungie go independent. They signed a three game deal, and part of that was Bungie's independence.

Jason Jones and Bungie was planning to make Destiny afterwards and own the IP no matter what, and that was never going to be approved by MS.

It would have been much harder for Bungie to reform like that. It's literally not that simple. Forming a new studio now means you have no brand and are untested despite your pedigree, and honestly there might have been more that stayed with Microsoft under that circumstance simply because that was at least guaranteed job security. My point was that Microsoft opted for keeping good terms with Bungie as an independent studio instead of making it hard for the developers. Look at Infinity Ward's situation with Activision for comparison. So yes, Microsoft chose to let Bungie go independent, which means that they got to keep their studio and not waste resources on reforming under much harder circumstances. Now the people from Bungie that are at Microsoft want to stay at Microsoft and the people now at Bungie or other studios want to be there.

 

[jelly]

Some employees don't mind working on Halo but I presume many others would like to do something new. It's a shame Microsoft do that with studios, Halo factory, Gears factory. Imagine saying to Guerrilla, Killzone for life and you get no Horizon, Uncharted, no Last of Us. It's daft to stifle creative people like that. I'll hold my hands up if some of the staff at those studios have an idea that gets heard that isn't Halo and Gears then gets made through Microsoft. I know they signed up for it and all that but with good talent and Microsoft backing you might get some great new stuff outside the factory. Went off in a tangent there.

 

[...Scatter...]

When all the employees could easily just mass quit and re-gather under a new company, it's hard to see how MS had a choice in "letting" Bungie go independent. They signed a three game deal, and part of that was Bungie's independence.

Jason Jones and Bungie was planning to make Destiny afterwards and own the IP no matter what, and that was never going to be approved by MS.

Yeah but if they Destiny was incubated during their tenure with MS, that could have easily ended up as MS' intellectual property. MS let them have it as a part of the split.

 

[EdibleExplosives]

Seems like a huge dick move by Bungie, glad he won. I mean, I can't stand the guy personally (his music is fucking amazing though), but he deserved to win the case.

 

[GlamFM]

Nah I think you and I have different understandings of what it means to be a sell out...

Yes, money changed hands when Bungie signed the deal with Activision... That doesn't make anyone a sell out. That's business...

But the agreement was, Bungie makes the game, Activision publishes it... Then Activision comes in and intentionally misrepresents the games artwork and content when marketing it to potential customers... Marty saw this as Activision lying to his fans... And rightfully so... Any true artist would be absolutely outraged... Marty thought his comrades, the same ones who stood up against MS, would be against this mischaracterization... However, they deemed their paycheck from Activision more important than being truthful. That's when you've become a sell out.

Being honest suddenly becomes being troublesome... He should've succumb to the Borg I guess...

Edit: And then once you consider how the story was gutted, and repurposed into the over priced DLC... It's clear to me that Activision's influence screwed with the overall artistry of the title in more ways than just the audio.

So many assumptions here... Don't know where to start.

Marty was concerned about himself and his work. The part with the fans is just made up by you.

As is everything you said about destinys DLC...

 

[X-Frame]

EDIT: Nevermind

 

[kejigoto]

Seems like Bungie and Activision are a better fit for each other than I thought.

Shame.

 

[LapinAgile]

So many assumptions here... Don't know where to start.

Marty was concerned about himself and his work. The part with the fans is just made up by you.

As is everything you said about destinys DLC...

As an artist I would also be pissed that something I had worked on for 2 years got replaced last minute by my financiers without my input. It's fine to be a fan of Bungie but vilifying Marty actions doesn't do much good either. There was wrong done on both sides but as a creative I would think you'd be a little more sympathetic...

 

[kejigoto]

Can someone explain to me what the Music of the Spheres is/was intended to be? Is it out or still in limbo somewhere?

Why does the official Destiny OST have "Excerpt from The Union" .. I see that there is a full track called The Union on the planned tracklist for MotS, so I am assuming that is it -- I just don't know why and what the difference is.

Basically it was one giant work that Marty wrote which was supposed to span the entire Destiny franchise. Doesn't seem like it was used in the end as Bungie decided to go with whatever direction Activision suggested with their trailer though apparently Bungie has used the music enough at events to promote the game that it is considered public domain by them (not sure this is still true after the ruling since Marty had to return all Music of the Spheres materials he had including any CD copies) and it's now in Bungie's hands if it will ever be released.

My guess is it won't see the light of day again because of this whole legal mess they allowed to happen.

 

[GlamFM]

As an artist I would also be pissed that something I had worked on for 2 years got replaced last minute by my financiers without my input. It's fine to be a fan of Bungie but vilifying Marty actions doesn't do much good either. There was wrong done on both sides but as a creative I would think you'd be a little more sympathetic...

His work for the game was never touched, it's all about a trailer.

 

[X-Frame]

Basically it was one giant work that Marty wrote which was supposed to span the entire Destiny franchise. Doesn't seem like it was used in the end as Bungie decided to go with whatever direction Activision suggested with their trailer though apparently Bungie has used the music enough at events to promote the game that it is considered public domain by them (not sure this is still true after the ruling since Marty had to return all Music of the Spheres materials he had including any CD copies) and it's now in Bungie's hands if it will ever be released.

My guess is it won't see the light of day again because of this whole legal mess they allowed to happen.

Thank you. I re-read the article and thought I understood it (so I edited my post) but your explanation does help.

All the "Except of..." songs in the OST sound amazing, I don't know why they wouldn't want to go with his stuff.

 

[kejigoto]

Marty was concerned about himself and his work. The part with the fans is just made up by you.

Did you not read the article? I'm guessing you didn't because this is right in there...

The court filings say that O’Donnell believed he was preserving Bungie’s “creative process, artistic integrity, and reputation, keeping faith with fans, and protecting Bungie and its intellectual property from Activision’s encroachment into artistic decisions.”

Court records that this is what Marty believed he was doing from the man himself. So not made up, not made up at all.

The more you know.

 

[LapinAgile]

His work for the game was never touched, it's all about a trailer.

I am not talking about the scope of the particular project. I am talking about having an overarching theme developed for promotion of the game that is undermined by brass. Maybe he over reacted but I give him props for standing up for himself. It's not about it being a trailer, it set a precedent he probably didn't like.

 

[kejigoto]

Thank you. I re-read the article and thought I understood it (so I edited my post) but your explanation does help.

All the "Except of..." songs in the OST sound amazing, I don't know why they wouldn't want to go with his stuff.

Activision most likely would be my guess. They want to increase profits and decrease spending. Using something like that means a long term commitment to paying a rather pricey composer royalities which would net him a ton of cash if Destiny continues to be a thing.

Instead they can go with music they (Activision) own which means they see bigger profits from things like soundtrack releases and also leaves them free to pursue anyone who uses the music without their consent.

According to the article from the very start Activision wasn't interested in it and this is no doubt why they took over production of the E3 reveal trailer so close to the event in order to make sure it wouldn't be used.

 

[GlamFM]

My bad.

 

[GreatestHits]

God, what happened to Bungie. It's bad getting into bad blood with your integral music man, but this is just part of what I see as a company who went down the shitter in many creative ways. I'm still upset I paid $60 for destiny, my favorite thing about it is just sitting in the opening menus. But what happened to this passionate very artistic company that caused them to arguably sell out and run a different direction? Just really sad for people who aren't into the new Bungie. When did they all have a meeting to join emperor Palpatine?

 

[DeadManWalking]

Congrats!

 

[firehawk12]

All this began with trailer music of all things? Wow. I wonder if they'll use his music for any of the other games, assuming he actually had a decade worth of score ready to go.

 

[RealityCheque]

Infinity Ward was awesome. Now they aren't.

Bungie was awesome. Now they aren't.

Activision seems to have something to do with it.

 

[Calabi]

Yeah, Bungie stripping him of his stock shares without compensation was criminal. Can't believe there wasn't a punitive ruling here beyond restoring his shares. Great article and good on Marty for fighting for what was his.

Yeah why weren't they fined or prison or something? Companies might as well just keep doing it because there's no penalty and there probably even get away with it sometimes.

 

[gatti-man]

I am not talking about the scope of the particular project. I am talking about having an overarching theme developed for promotion of the game that is undermined by brass. Maybe he over reacted but I give him props for standing up for himself. It's not about it being a trailer, it set a precedent he probably didn't like.

Activision is in charge of promoting Destiny. Marty elevated his own selfish interests above that. It's pretty cut and dry. Marty isn't Bungie and he isn't destiny m. He is a cofounder and employee working towards a successful product. Don't confuse artistic integrity with ego and hubris.

 

[GlamFM]

I am not talking about the scope of the particular project. I am talking about having an overarching theme developed for promotion of the game that is undermined by brass. Maybe he over reacted but I give him props for standing up for himself. It's not about it being a trailer, it set a precedent he probably didn't like.

When standing up for yourself includes threatening coworkers thing get a little tricky.

 

[legacyzero]

Never did like the idea of Bungie teaming with Activision. ESPECIALLY after parting ways with Microsoft. Talk about "out of the frying pan, into the fire".

 

[Klossen]

Infinity Ward was awesome. Now they aren't.

Bungie was awesome. Now they aren't.

Activision seems to have something to do with it.

Blizzard was awesome...

 

[7DollarHagane]

Did anyone actually read the article or just root for Marty?

Seems like he wasn't happy and stopped doing his work because his work wasn't being promoted enough

Is this wrong?

Funny thing about these type of cases is that the activision side would say anything to make him look bad.

The guy wasn't asking to regain creative control over the series, he just wanted to get his stocks and benefits he was legally owed.

Like someone else said he could have laid a turd on the CEO's desk while he was out to lunch and videotaped himself, he was still owed the company stock he earned and benefits.

Nobody said activision couldn't fire him because he wasn't playing ball with the company and the way things were going.

I think what most people are taking away from this is that activision changed the way the studio handled music and audio for the worse, among other things.

Their directive was probably to make destiny a game that would make people want to buy several expansions throughout the year instead of releasing a larger content package for $60 yearly.

 

[Quazar]

Look forward to hearing more about what his game studio is working on.

 

[7DollarHagane]

When standing up for yourself includes threatening coworkers thing get a little tricky.

OK, so he gets let go for not playing ball with leadership. Whatever "threatening coworkers" means it doesn't mean you lose your legally owed benefits and assets from being with the company since near it's creation.

 

[NerdEyeBlind]

Maybe one day the BBC will make a movie about the making of DESTINY and Mary's departure from Bungie. Could be fantastic.