Bungie Pays Former Halo, Destiny Composer $95,000 to Settle Lawsuit

The legal case between Bungie and Marty O'Donnell, the longtime Bungie composer responsible for much of the music in the Halo series (as well as the upcoming Destiny), will not go to trial. According to a report by GamesBeat, O'Donnell has won a settlement from Bungie and president Harold Ryan after filing a lawsuit over his dismissal in April, which he claimed was "without cause."

O'Donnell filed suit in early May claiming Ryan had denied him pay for things like unused vacation time, paid time off, and other benefits--all of which Bungie's policies dictate he would get. Ryan and Bungie responded later in the month, denying the allegations and stating O'Donnell was not "entitled to the relief requested, or any relief whatsoever."

It would appear that either wasn't the case or it wasn't worth going to trial over, as evidenced by the new settlement. A King County Superior Court judge in Seattle recently approved the settlement and will, according to GamesBeat, see O'Donnell paid more than $95,000. This money is for unpaid work, vacation time, double damages (which see one party in a case paid twice the amount of damages they are found to be owed), and legal fees.

We've requested a comment from Bungie and will report back with any information we receive.

Bungie fired O'Donnell, the studio's audio director, in April, offering no reason publicly (or privately, according to O'Donnell) for his dismissal. His work included every one of the Halo games developed by Bungie, as well as its newest project, Destiny. The company said in April his firing would have no impact on the game's development, which will still include work he did alongside that of Mike Salvatori, C. Paul Johnson, and Paul McCartney.

Many people are getting to hear O'Donnell's work in Destiny for the first time this week thanks to the game's beta, which you can read all about here. After being taken offline for yesterday and today, the beta will resume tomorrow when it becomes available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, joining the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions. The full game arrives on all four platforms on September 9.