Destiny and Halo fans shocked as layoffs hit 24-year Bungie veteran: “To lay him off is a slap in the face to one of the greatest composers in modern history”

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Beloved composer Michael Salvatori has wiped Bungie from his personal website

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep
(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 developer Bungie's latest wave of layoffs appears to include various studio veterans who have been around for over 24 years, since before the days of the original Halo.

One of the more prominent names among the fan chatter is beloved composer Michael Salvatori. A veteran of 25 years, Salvatori has contributed to every Bungie release, starting with Myth: The Fallen Lords before composing the first five Halo games and more recently Destiny and its eventual follow-up. 

While his departure hasn't officially been confirmed, fans have assumed as much as his website now simply reads "gone fishin'" instead of the previous blurb about his career. Another composer who has also seemingly been laid off, Michael Sechrist, has updated their website to "Gone Fishin' with Salvatori."

Another adds, "If an award-winning portfolio of this absolute grandeur isn't enough to keep your job, then I fear for everyone in the industry."

News of Bungie's round of layoffs surfaced yesterday, with numerous staffers coming forward to share that they had lost their jobs or offer solidarity to those who did. Alongside several studio composers, the layoffs appear to have reached other corners of the studio, such as community management and beyond. 

"Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio," CEO Pete Parsons says. "What these exceptional individuals have contributed to our games and Bungie culture has been enormous and will continue to be a part of Bungie long into the future. These are truly talented people. If you have openings, I would highly recommend each and every one of them."

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.