When I think of the Halo franchise, one of the aspects of that game that stands out to me is the music. I feel that Marty O’Donnell really brought life to the franchise through the music. This led to me anticipating a great soundtrack to Bungie’s next franchise, Destiny. When Bungie fired Marty O’Donnell earlier this week, it raised concerns of how this would affect the game. That is not the case, as Bungie has announced that despite O’Donnell’s termination, his music will still be in Destiny.
Destiny won’t affected by O’Donnell’s departure
According to Bungie COO Pete Parsons, Destiny is “close to shipping.” He told Eurogamer that O’Donnell’s music will still be in the game, and that his departure will not have a negative effect Destiny’s development.
“I think the Bungie fan base is going to look forward to hearing Marty’s music, Mike Salvatori’s music, C. Paul’s music and Paul McCartney’s music in the game,” Parsons said. “That’s going to be exciting for people. It’s going to be a great, fantastic experience.”
O’Donnell was working as Bungie audio director, and was working with long-term collaborator Mike Salvatori and sound designer and composer C. Paul Johnson. The team was also working with musician Paul McCartney for Destiny’s soundtrack.
It is unknown why O’Donnell was let go
While O’Donnell claims he was “terminated without cause” and stated that he was “saddened,” Bungie claims that they are going their separate ways “as friends.” Bungie community manager David Dague paid tribute to O’Donnell in a blog post entitled “There are those who said this day would never come,”
“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.”
Despite all this, Parsons said:
“I believe people will be transported not just by the activities and the stories within the Destiny universe but by the sights and the wonderful sounds and music…We have a fantastic team. We’re pretty close to shipping. There’s a lot of polish left to do, lots of tweaking and tuning, but a lot is already complete.”
Despite this, Destiny rolls forward
Destiny will still be released in September on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Destiny will be a decade long franchise that should see a number of games released as part of a deal with publisher Activision. It is unknown what Bungie will do in terms of music for future entries in the series.
That is my biggest concern. While I am looking forward to the soundtrack to Destiny, I wonder where the music for the franchise will go. After losing the chief composer, who knows what direction the music could take. Hopefully Bungie will be able to find a way to keep the feeling and vibe that O’Donnell brought to the game. I am sure that with his impressive resume O’Donnell will easily find his next venture. I wish him the best of luck.
