Destiny development unaffected by Halo composer's firing

Any concerns fans may have about Destiny after Bungie fired composer Marty O'Donnell can be put to rest, as O'Donnell's departure will not have an effect on the game's release later this year, according to the developer's chief operating officer.

Describing Destiny as being "close to shipping," Bungie COO Pete Parsons told Eurogamer that O'Donnell's music remains in the game despite his recent firing. "I think the Bungie fanbase 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, who served as Bungie's audio director, recently announced he had been fired "without cause" by Bungie, although the details surrounding the situation have not yet been made public. Prior to working on Destiny, O'Donnell, along with Salvatori and C. Paul Johnson, worked on the soundtracks for the Halo series before it was handed off to 343 Industries. Paul McCartney, meanwhile, has been working with Bungie to write music for Destiny over the past few years.

Curiously, in a recent interview with DBO (via Superannuation), O'Donnell indicated he still has an ownership stake in Bungie despite his dismissal. The composer has yet to reveal what's next for him, but he did indicate that moving from games to films is a possibility. "I've never done a feature film, but I've worked on film scores, I've done commercials, I've done video games... if Spielberg called, I wouldn't say no," he said.

Parsons went on to say of Destiny, "There's a lot of polish left to do, lots of tweaking and tuning, but a lot is already complete."

The new first-person shooter remains on track for release this September on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.