Bungie swaps CEOs, promises its best work is to come

January 28, 2016 | 15:12

Tags: #destiny #halo #marathon

Companies: #bungie

Bungie, the company behind first-person shooter classics Marathon, Halo, and the less-well-regarded Destiny, has announced a swap at the top with chief executive Harold Ryan out in favour of Pete Parsons.

Unveiled back in 2013, Destiny was to be Bungie's magnum opus following the its departure from Microsoft ownership and its relinquishing the rights to the Halo franchise it had created. It was promised to be a true epic, blending role-playing and first-person-shooter aspects with a thick and elaborate backstory - involving, of course, rampant AI, space marines, and floating wisecracking robotic assistants, because this is Bungie we're talking about. Hype was heavy and initially the game looked to be a success, but things did not continue well: gamers complained of glitches, grinding, and what turned out to be the wholesale removal of vast swathes of plot, combined with an absolutely terrible performance from voice actor Peter Dinklage - so terrible, in fact, that a patch would replace him outright with game voice giant Nolan North.

The most recent version of the game, The Taken King, sought to resolve as many of these issues as possible, but the criticism appears to have taken its toll on the company at an executive level. The result: an announcement that chief executive Harold Ryan is out, with Pete Parsons taking his place immediately.

'I want to personally thank Harold for his friendship, passion, hard work, and dedication in helping make Bungie the great company it is today. As a team, we celebrated many victories and weathered many storms. To the players of Destiny, I want you to know that my number one priority, and Bungie’s, is and always has been to deliver great games that we can all share together,' claimed Parsons of his appointment. 'I believe that Destiny is a one-of-a-kind experience. I also believe you have yet to see our studio’s best work. My new role here at the studio will be entirely focused on fulfilling that promise.'
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