Chris Barrett, one of the top executives at one of the video game industry’s leading studios, was fired this spring after he was accused by several female employees of inappropriate behavior, according to people familiar with the matter.
Starting at Bungie Inc. in 1999, Barrett rose through the ranks as
an artist and then a director on the popular
Halo and
Destiny franchises and served on Bungie’s board before the company was bought by Sony Group Corp. for
$3.6 billion in 2022. Until last summer he was also the director of
Marathon, which the studio is hoping will become its next big game franchise. But in late March, he suddenly left the company.
Behind the scenes, Barrett was terminated following an internal investigation in which at least eight female employees raised complaints earlier this year that he had behaved inappropriately toward them, according to eight people, including multiple women who reported Barrett as well as other Bungie employees who were either involved in the investigation or spoke to the women involved. The people asked not to be named discussing private information.
The investigation found that Barrett called lower-level female employees attractive, asked them to play truth-or-dare and made references to his wealth and power within the studio, suggesting that he could help advance their careers, according to two people familiar with the case.
In a statement to Bloomberg News, Barrett said that throughout nearly 25 years at Bungie, “I feel that I have always conducted myself with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, many of whom I consider my closest friends. I never understood my communications to be unwanted and I would have never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry.”
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