Bungie has seen numerous changes over the past year, and while the hits keep coming for the Destiny 2 developer, Marathon has also announced that Bungie is switching game directors.
Following the layoffs earlier in the year, the Destiny 2 developer Bungie has been strained to the point of pushing back their upcoming The Final Shape expansion into June. Today, Bungie has announced that they are making another change, this time at the leadership level, for their upcoming title, Marathon.
While it has been rumoured for some time, Bungie has confirmed longstanding Bungie developer Christopher Barrett has stepped down as Marathon‘s game director in favour of the former Valorant game director, Joe Ziegler. Joe Ziegler notably left Riot Games for Bungie back in 2022. Below is a post that Joe Ziegler made on X (formerly Twitter) explaining that he has been the game director for nine months.
IGN reports this isn’t the only change Bungie has seen, as ‘sources’ have told them the Marathon game has undergone a notable shift in development, reeling back custom player characters in favour of a hero selection similar to how Overwatch 2 or even Valorant play. It’s also worth mentioning the official Marathon X account has remained dormant since its last post in May of 2023, which can explain the exact nine-month period since Joe Ziegler took over as director.
This news also comes after Bungie went through an intense round of layoffs just this past October, where the company let go of ~100 Bungie workers out of their ~1200 total. While the layoffs have happened in the timeframe of when Ziegler took over as Marathon‘s game director, it has not been said or proven that either event has caused the other. While Marathon remains “baking,” surely fans will hear more when Bungie determines it is the right time.
