(Bloomberg) -- 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.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Bungie’s parent company, would not comment on Barrett’s case specifically but a spokesperson said the company takes “all complaints of misconduct very seriously. It is our policy and practice to investigate every complaint promptly and take action based on the findings of our investigation.”
Over the last two decades, the video game industry has faced a reckoning over its reputation as a boys’ club as it has grown into a $200 billion behemoth. Along the way, several top companies including Riot Games, Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard all faced legal action and managerial shakeups following allegations of misbehavior by some of their staff. Activision paid $55 million last year to settle a lawsuit brought by California that accused the Call of Duty maker of harboring a “frat boy” culture. And in 2021, Riot Games paid $100 million to settle a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit.
Bungie, founded in 1991, also dealt with these growing pains. In 2021, the gaming site IGN reported that Bungie employees said their human resources department was unwilling to respond to complaints about misbehavior at the studio. In the Barrett case, Bungie and Sony took action to remove one of the studio’s most tenured employees following the complaints — a sign that the video game industry may be evolving.
Stories shared with Bloomberg News from the women involved or those who were familiar with the case all followed similar patterns: Barrett would befriend women at the studio in various departments and then send them a barrage of text messages that blurred the lines between professional and personal. In interviews, multiple women who reported Barrett said the advances were unwanted and that they felt uncomfortable because Barrett was significantly more powerful than they were at the company.
Texts reviewed by Bloomberg News included flirtatious messages from Barrett and requests to hang out with the women involved. Bloomberg News is not sharing specific details to avoid potentially identifying the women who reported Barrett to human resources.
Bungie employees weren’t told the circumstances behind Barrett’s departure. Members of his Marathon team were informed earlier this year by management that he was on a sabbatical, according to the people familiar. Some later discovered that his company accounts had been disabled.
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