Bungie posted about it. (Destiny)

by Fuertisimo, Wednesday, April 16, 2014, 00:12 (3873 days ago) @ Schooly D

That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

I don't think Activision is as disconnected as Bungie wanted/wants us to think.

They're putting some massive amounts of cash into the franchise, and despite all the "but we're still completely autonomous" reassurances, you had better believe that Activision is keeping a close eye on where/how their money gets spent.

Bear in mind the "we may be owned by Microsoft but we're completely autonomous" reassurances from the thick of the Halo days which, while partly true, have been shown to be very overblown now that the tape is removed from a lot of mouths.

Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

The reach of Bobby Kotick is long and sinister indeed, but I'm refusing to believe that has anything to do with it. Mostly because if it were true, I'm not sure I'm ready to handle the implications of that.