There's a couple good explanations elsewhere in the thread, but basically the phrase "without cause" means that Bungie isn't legally required to specify a reason - as in, they're declining to call out one particular thing, rather than there literally being no reason. Obviously, there is always a reason, even if it's just "we don't like you."

something is AMUCK [sic] at BUNGIE time will tell, ...

This run-on sentence contains two different ideas about the state of things. Yes, time will tell if something is wrong at Bungie, just as it has told before after Doug Zartman left, after Matt Soell left, after Alex left and so on.

Marty leaving is painful and has shaken me up personally, but ultimately all depends on what happens on launch day in September and on launch days thereafter. Same as it ever was.

Sonofmacphisto made a great point this weekend while we were talking about all the shakeups in the game industry the last few years. There's a lot of younger talent that has grown up playing these great games we love. We may not know them by name yet, but they're out there, and I think a lot of them are working for Bungie. The future could be different than we expected. It's not a bad idea to leave open the possibility that it could be better than we expected for Bungie, for us, and for Marty.

Marty was the SOUL of Bungie

WITHOUT FUCKING NOTICE, they give McDonalds employes the courtesy of 2 weeks NOTICE

FUCK THIS is a complete DICK MOVE and I'm BENT AS HELL about it….

…but not surprised… something is AMUCK at BUNGIE time will tell, I will still get Destiny 1, as for the rest

I will see how ONCE WORSHIPPED game developer Bungie handles themselves from now on….

THIS BS.

Me? Signed up. Even if email newsletters feel like 1999, this guy is the one that sold me on Halo as something special, I want to know where he goes, and follow along.

What I take from this is that I truly hope I get to hear more of Marty's music in the future. And I'm pretty sure I will. :)

http://martyodonnellmusic.com/

Tweeting a link with a contact form after a controversial announcement? He's gonna have a bad time…

That Marty is talented is without question. That he could have a blow up with management and get kicked out is also believable. I've seen it happen before at startups and larger corporations. He is the old hand, the experienced one, with the trophies and accolades to back that up; but he's also in a room with others who are equally old hands, and when money is tight and stress is high the powers that be will cut him lose. And don't believe for a moment stress isn't high. Bungie's continued existence as a studio hinges on Destiny being a wild success. I've seen estimates that Halo 3 cost 30 million to create. Destiny is a much larger project with a larger price tag.

Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

Well said. What ever damage has been done, has been done to both. There are no winners in this situation. I think 15 years is technically a lot of time to put into one company - you don't just leave it. Its part of his history now and vise versa.

If nothing of this is put into words during the Friday update - I will be more shocked then I was a day ago.

...because... its Marty Freakin' O'Donnell.

Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

After Marty's tweet, I would say so.

I need time to think, so for now I'll just repost what I wrote on Twitter:

With friends on both sides, it feels wrong to speculate.
Marty is still Marty.
Bungie is still Bungie.
The future is still bright. Destiny!

Well said!

That Marty is talented is without question. That he could have a blow up with management and get kicked out is also believable. I've seen it happen before at startups and larger corporations. He is the old hand, the experienced one, with the trophies and accolades to back that up; but he's also in a room with others who are equally old hands, and when money is tight and stress is high the powers that be will cut him lose. And don't believe for a moment stress isn't high. Bungie's continued existence as a studio hinges on Destiny being a wild success. I've seen estimates that Halo 3 cost 30 million to create. Destiny is a much larger project with a larger price tag.

Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

Bungie hasn't really released, well, anything regarding Destiny aside from a bunch of pics of guns and knives and whatnot. A commercial here and there. E3. But as a whole, not much of anything substantive beyond the awesome interviews GameInformer put out.

But what has really been building a lot of excitement? What's really been fascinating to read? Sir Paul McCartney. How the music is being created. Marty interviews. E3 music demo. MP3 teases/releases. Would Bungie--actually, could Bungie have even managed to get Paul McCartney without Marty? Would it have even been a thought?

Even if whatever has been contributed to Destiny by Paul McCartney ends up not being all that significant, the fact that his name is attached to it at all absolutely bumped the press, marketing, and appeal/interest to broader markets.

I really, really wonder how this impacts Bungie going forward, even in the immediate Destiny future. Hell, even beyond Destiny.

Obviously I don't know why Marty's gone. No one here seems to know right now, either. Maybe something will get elaborated upon somewhere by someone at some point.

All I know is that it's been an amazing more than a decade of having Marty's work really influence and impact me, and he'll absolutely be missed by myself and many others all over when it comes to Bungie titles. I truly wish him the best and brightest of futures, even while holding on to what's likely a nonexistent possibility of him returning to Bungie.

With friends on both sides, it feels wrong to speculate.
Marty is still Marty.
Bungie is still Bungie.
The future is still bright. Destiny!