Specifically, he said that he was "terminated without cause." This happened back on April 11, 2014.
Martin O'Donnell worked on music and sound design for the Myth series, Oni, and the Halo franchise. Just a small sample of some of his memorable work on the Halo franchise can be heard above. His career in the gaming industry began with Riven, the sequel to Myst. He also wrote jingles for various TV commercials such as Mr. Clean and Flintstones Vitamins.
No additional information over the termination was revealed by either Bungie or Activision. It seems incredibly odd that the board would terminate O'Donnell after such a strong history with the company. At present wild speculation ranges from O'Donnell either having done something to result in his termination, all the way to speculation that Activision wanted to keep the budget on the Destiny franchise in check.
Again, those are just wild assumptions people are tossing around right now. No reason has been revealed by anybody or any entity just yet.
Bungie made a very brief mention of the termination through a one paragraph blog entry.
For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans. Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future.
We wish him luck in all his future endeavors.
We wish him luck in all his future endeavors.
It is assumed that most, if not all, of Martin O'Donnell's work for Destiny is already completed and will still be included in the game.
