![Marathon PS5 PlayStation](https://images.pushsquare.com/e3176fe5c8759/marathon-ps5-playstation.900x.jpg)
Former Destiny 2 and Marathon director Chris Barrett is suing Sony Interactive Entertainment. He claims that his firing for alleged inappropriate behaviour (detailed in a March Bloomberg report) was a pretence to avoid paying the $50 million he was owed under his employment agreement following Bungie's acquisition by SIE. Barrett is further seeking $100 million in damages and other substantial sums owed due to retention agreements and various compensations.
This story broke ahead of The Game Awards (the author, former news director Kat Bailey, no longer works for IGN; games media moves quickly) and was thus overshadowed, but a fairly extraordinary document has today come to light. Connected independent journalist Stephen Totilo has been sifting through the 81-page lawsuit, unearthing an equity report that shows Barrett was set to make a staggering amount of money from Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie: $84 million in total, $35 million once the deal closed (which Barrett presumably received), and another $45 million due to him, had he not been fired.
It remains to be seen what happens with Barrett's case, whether Sony did try and avoid paying out the many millions owed, or whether one or both parties are willing to settle. Still, the staggering sums of money involved are certainly eye-opening. We don't know what a good game director is worth, but in light of the more than 220 Bungie employees laid off in the last year, we can't help but wonder how many of those roles were eliminated to help cover the various vested stock options, RSAs, and RSUs owed to management.
What do you think of this entire affair? Is there more to the story here? Let us know in the comments section below.
Comments 49
Sony must've already gone through their own legal department to make sure they were secure before firing him. Such moves do not come lightly and go through various departments. Either way those are ridiculous amounts to pay a person from a ridiculous deal that still hasn't shown any return.
The fact that the entire Kadowkawa corp is around 4.5 billion (now it was cheaper back then) is even more signs of just how silly this deal was.
Lol good luck with that
@breakneck to be fair Kadokawa was worth half that before they broke the news of Sony interest, that's how stock works, right now Kadokawa stock is tied with Sony value. If Sony decides to not but them they most likely would be back to their original price.
The idea of the deal with Bungie was for 1 billion to go for the developers so they would stay at Bungie because is common for developers to leave when they are acquired by big companies. Obviously at that time Sony didn't know Bungie was rotten inside. Still if done right Marathon has a good chance to be a hit, the masses know what Bungie is and they don't care about the lay offs.
The justice system exists for a reason right? So if true it's good that he makes use of it. That said Bungie almost died because of their own administration, administration that created a well documented toxic working environment and he was part of that. The battle doesn't look good for him for better or worse.
Buying this studio was a bigger blunder than Concord (or close enough), an absolute headache for Sony whichever way you look without having anything good to show for the troubles.
@breakneck @Juanalf perhaps Bungie will end up being a bad purchase, but it’s far too early to tell. So far they’ve only released 2 expansions to Destiny 2 since Sony bought them, the last of which The Final Shape was a big hit with both critics and players.
Yes they have their problems internally, and needed some restructuring, but until they release their next few games it’s hard to tell if this was a wise investment or not.
But Bungie have been making landmark games for over three decades, games that have defined genres like Halo, Marathon, Myth and Destiny. It will be interesting to see if they’ve still got it.
oh literally... FFS... I am getting so tired of this. It's this sort of constant scraping for every last cent - when they drove Bungie into literal ground - year after year... and they still want to get everything, whilst they accept no responsibility for anything they 'allegedly' did with the at least 8 female employees. Edit - and yes, this may be his legal right... which is why, if there was inappropriate behavior, it seems reasonable that it comes to light. In fact... he's inviting it. If not, then yep - this will be another catastrophic L for Sony.
So, I think... fine... take it to court. And I hope every person that was done over by him over the years, does likewise. And to be fair - I hope he does get justice, if it's deserved.
@themightyant so... when was the last game they released that wasn't associated with Destiny.... 2010. Over 14 years ago - I think it's fair to say, that ain't the same company. They may have (emphasis on past-tense) been good at making one game... but I think like a lot of companies, the staff has gone through that much turnover, there'd be few that had made anything other than Destiny at this point.
@themightyant My big concern is Bungie generally struggles to maintain positive momentum and hype which is so important with Live Service games. I do hope with Sony having greater control things go better with Marathon and they don't make careless errors like deleting old content permanently making on-boarding for new players impossible.
Doubt he'll get a penny, unless the firing was done unfairly,
These sums of money are ridiculous, but if he was fired without reason then he’s owed what he was promised. If he was fired with reason then he presumably is not.
What exactly was this “inappropriate” behaviour and was it actually proven? I guess that’s the question.
@thefourfoldroot1 He was fired because at least 8 women made allegations against him of sexually inappropriate behaviour
@thefourfoldroot1 I think you win the prize for most obvious - and non committal - comment of the day And to be fair, this really shouldn't be fought in the court of public opinion. But I think, it should be fought... either way. None of us really know - and we're all softly-softly negotiating around the issues.
I bet Sony wish they never acquired this bloated corpse
@ChrisDeku
OK, but that Is not a very specific answer. “Sexually inappropriate behaviour” can be anything from groping to a slightly off-colour joke these days. Anyway, that’s not too relevant, but presumably, for the firing to be just, one would have had to be a proven allegation, so I thought more information may be known. Perhaps just not publicly yet.
Yes, it's a ridiculous amount of money for one person to get, but based on the document on that tweet, it seems like Sony broke the contract. It clearly states that "you do not need to remain a Bungie employee" for those payouts. I'm no lawyer, but it seems like Sony needs to pay up.
Don't get me wrong, he seems like horrible person if the claims about his behaviour are true.
It's no wonder Bungie are the mess they are with those sums of money being bandied around. Just pure greed.
Sony must regret the bungie deal. What a hassle and total waste of (a lot of) money.
@KoopaTheGamer then maybe don't comment on contract law. There will be conditions in any contract where one party breaches a condition. For instance... if after the purchase he went around publishing every negotiation, and future Sony plan - that would be an example of a bad-faith actor. I'm not saying that's what happened, but there are many things that could trigger the negation of an agreement.
Tweets are not - generally - a good source of information. Same as Reddit, Facebook, TwiX, or even PushSquare. We don't know what they did- whether they were justified, or contestable - or whether they were actually worse than reported. We can all have opinons about what he did, but we should hold off on saying whether he was right or wrong. The point being - if he's innocent then he should fight it.
We kinda have to have faith the legal system (as flawed as it is) will resolve it. As rocky as that faith may be in this day and age.
The United States of America 🇺🇸 has estimated the value of a human life at 7.5 million there not giving this one guy 200 million for a job that's completely unnecessary 🙄
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Yes, I was commenting based on what we know, as I couldn't possibly have all the information about the case (or make sure that the document tweeted was legit to begin with). The point was, I can understand where he is coming from. I don't agree with him, and I wouldn't tolerate his claimed actions, but he may have a case.
$3 billion purchased that came with a bad baggage huh :/
If only Sony HQ didn't approve Jimbo & Hermen proposal to acquire Bungie...sigh...
3.7 billion… incredible
@breakneck @Oz_Who_Dat_Dare I agree they aren’t entirely the same company. But the company that made Marathon and Myth wasn’t all the same folk that made Halo. And the company that made Halo weren’t all the same people that made Destiny. Some were the same, some had moved on. It’s the Ship of Theseus Paradox. But regardless they have had success for over three decades. Whether that’s through keeping a few core individuals, company culture or something else they’ve continued to make groundbreaking games.
To be clear I am NOT saying they are going to do it again, in fact I am sceptical, BUT I am saying we don’t know, and it’s too early to tell. They might fail. But It’s also possible they kick some life into Destiny and make Marathon another Bungie success like they have for thirty years.
What an insane amount to be paid to one person while they are firing so many workers.
That said, it would be extremely stupid of him to have done anything to jeopardize that amount of money.
@themightyant yes - it's possible. The problem with your paradox example is however... the assumption is that you're replacing out good for good. Destiny has had reasonable success over the last decade - but it also hasn't grown... because their ecosystem isn't about on-boarding new players... it's built on milking the existing large player base.
That's not about making games... its about generating a captive audience. That's a very different business model. Destiny has been losing players (and interest) for a while now. Often a company that lives off the cash-cow (built on the reputation of success), is frightened of dispelling that perception. Marathon will be an interesting test to see if they can separate Destiny player-base from the new IP.
Either way - it will be a sh*t-show for Sony and all the individuals involved (especially if they were indeed victims of 'inappropriate' behaviour).
@Psofo people are undeniably (statistically) stupid.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare I am not ASSUMING anything. I clearly said we don’t know, I even underlined it for clarity. I don’t know if they have hired well or have the staff and culture to do it again… but neither do you. You are the one making assumptions and have already decided they haven’t and will fail with little evidence.
I agree about Destiny hasn’t grown due to lack of onboarding, I’ve frequently made that point, but for the best part of 7 years it’s been in the top 20 most played games on three platforms PC, PlayStstion and Xbox. Yes it’s numbers are lower recently, though that’s hardly surprising now that the saga is over and lack of onboarding, but it’s still on the Top 25 on PlayStation and Xbox and Top 75 on Steam (according to Xbox’s website, PS time tracker and SteamDB) that’s still a remarkable success for a 7 year old game.
My whole point is WE DON’T KNOW. Perhaps they will do well, perhaps they won’t. I am sceptical, I think the live service market is so crowded now the odds are firmly against them, but If anyone is going to rewrite the rules in the shooter space again it’s probably Bungie.
"AAA game production is not sustainable anymore, unless you make insane sales numbers."... or you just don't pay people on the top these insane amounts! American exceptionalism knows no bounds.
It all depends on whether Sony can get his victims on the stand. Will probably end in a settlement but i hope not.
@themightyant I'm not commenting on anything other than your use of the Theseus paradox - which is if you replace a boat, plank by plank, at what point does it cease to be the same boat. My point was simply - that the paradox works if you're replacing plank-for-plank. [edit] People aren't planks - and they come in all shapes and sizes. Company cultures often shift over a decade because of that turn-over; often unconsciously. And that's not saying necessarily in a bad way - just that they can be quite different, and have very different levels of experience. Edit - I'm sure we're both on the same page there.
I'm not making any assumptions... their entire business model is based on retaining a core base, and milking for every season update (and subsequent mtx)... with just enough content to keep groups/clans engaged to promote spending. My point was simply a company that has adopted that strategy for years is going to develop a very specific culture. As I said...Bungie haven't actually had to develop a new IP for a decade - and they've lived that decade (mostly) on the idea they had the magic sauce. Failure (and hence the risk) has a nasty way of threatening that perception...which is why a lot of companies stay in the safe-zone unless they need to move.
I'm not saying they will fail - just that they have a huge self-imposed barrier to jump over to succeed.
@Psofo he may have done extremely stupid things before tens of millions were at risk m
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare When Destiny came out in 2014 they hadn't made a new AAA IP for 13 years since Halo (2001), yet they succeeded. Why not again after another decade?
As I said I think the odds are against them, the landscape has changed. But we don't know. I'm willing to wait and see and not put the cart before the horse.
@themightyant that's mostly true - except they released multiple games under the same IP - which is a little different to the season-pass model. Though I accept it may not necessarily be that different.
I think we're both saying that it's going to be a hard time for Bungie - whether you're on the glass-half-full, or half-empty side of the equation... but either way, it all depends on what IS IN THE GLASS.
Let's see how it goes. In either case, I just think it's not going to be easy. And I don't think Sony are still patting each other on the back for the acquisition (but hindsight's a wonderful thing).
So many better things Sony could have used the acquisition money on than Bungie. Definitely their worse purchase next to firewalk.
What a complete *****!
@KoopaTheGamer You have misread the document. He doesn’t need to be an employee to receive the Vested Equited payment due at closing(of the deal) nor the Unvested RSU’s. He’s received these.
He’s claiming for the Vested Equity payments that were tied to continuous employment due July 20224, July 2025 and July 2026.
@ChrisDeku Ahh, I see. Thanks for clarifying. 👍
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare where are you seeing the contract? All I see in the tweet is an equity report. Definitely just emailed my paralegal to pull the complaint this morning though. Should be an interesting read.
@IamJT I think you didn't read my comment... I was responding to @KoopaTheGamer who was referring to a document attached to a tweet... to which I simply said that people shouldn't be using tweets or any other social media attachment as a starting point for a contract law discussion. These sorts of contracts typically have all sorts of outs... that we are not likely to be privy to - especially what you find on TwiX.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Oh got it. So you are commenting on a contract you have not read to tell him not to comment on contract law if he isn’t a lawyer. Was this filed in Washington or California? Because that might matter much more than the terms in the contract in an employment law case, which this will be. Not a contract law case.
@IamJT his being paid out is a matter of contract - not because he was employed. Bungie/Sony had a number of conditions as part of the acquisition that dictated how employees would be retained through bonuses/pay-outs... including executives. This was well publicised.
Also - both California and Washington have employment contracts that define legal rights between parties. These retention bonses would likely fall within their employment contract with Sony (if you want to go that way). How is this not contract law? I didn't comment at all about what clauses were in the contract - simply that all contracts (including employment contracts) tend to have such things as good faith clauses, that binds both parties.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare very good question. And breach on contract is one of I believe nine causes of action being brought. His employment contract likely has a clause voiding vestment on termination. Most of his claims, even his breach of contract claim, turns on a wrongful termination COA. So the case precedent of where he filed is more important than the contract. Yes this will discuss contracts, but it’s going to really focus on bungles employment practices. Any contractual interpretation will be in light of the states employment law.
EDIT: based on what I see so far he is claiming, essentially Sony did not fire him for sexual harassment, they fired him to not pay him so they could breach the contract. An interesting tactic, but again this mostly will not focus on the contract itself. Discovery will focus on the internal investigation etc.
@IamJT let's see how this plays out; including what information would have been pertinent to any negotiation, and when that should have been disclosed. I'm not saying either side is right or wrong; and frankly my point was only that people should refrain from making proclaimations about how things appear based on information off social media. Which is exactly why I'm not offering an opinion about the outlook of the action.
Let the legal system sort it out - as I said previously.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare we will reconvene this discussion in four years when the case settles 🤣
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare @IamJT To give my thoughts on the topic, I doubt any of us here are experts on this particular topic but it's fine to discuss it anyway. I think it's fine to assume (until proven otherwise) that that particular tweet is legit since it's from the journalist mentioned in this article and I would hope Push Square has done at least some research in order to not share any old rubbish that you find on the internet. But interpreting that document (correctly) is a job for the legal system, not us.
I originally brought it up because I noticed people were jumping the gun and were already at Chris Barrett's throat even when it was not clear whatsoever that Sony had followed the contract. Yeah, maybe I jumped the gun as well in interpreting that Sony had broken it (although I was careful to not state it as a fact, hence the "it seems" that I used twice), but hopefully this discussion has opened people's eyes to see that the world is not black and white. Chris Barret may be the villain of this story, or it may be Sony. Maybe both, maybe neither. We'll have to wait and see.
Edit: To be clear, $35 million is already way too much money for one person, let alone $80+ million. So I think at the very least this guy is super greedy, even if he has a case.
@KoopaTheGamer well said. I’m a civil defense attorney and my perspective is that in theses situations, in most civil lawsuits, everyone did something wrong. I might just be jaded 🤣. Also as to your comment about the $35 million, he doesn’t need the money true, which makes me think this is personal. If this goes to trial and doesn’t settle and he did do the things Sony fired him for then that info will be in everyone’s hands. Makes me think he possibly has a case a la Chris Avellone.
Bungie acquisition continues to be a noose around Sonys neck. Whoever was responsible for due diligence on that purchase is surely put of a job by now.
He also wanted his old job back. Sure. Maniac.
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