Former Valorant Director Joins Bungie as New Marathon Game Director

Bungie is currently experiencing a creative leadership shakeup that has led to the reassignment of game directors for its sci-fi PvP extraction shooter, Marathon. Former Valorant game director Joe Ziegler, who left Riot Games to join Bungie in 2022, has been confirmed to be taking on the role of game director for this project.

Previous reports had suggested that Christopher Barrett, a Bungie designer, had been leading the project. However, when rumours surfaced suggesting that Barrett was no longer involved, Ziegler took to Twitter/X to confirm that he is now the game director.

Hey everyone! Fun update: for the last 9
Months I’ve been working on Marathon as the game director. We’re still baking, but I’m excited to share with you more info on the game as we get closer and closer to bringing it to all of you.

— Ziegler (@Ziegler_Dev) March 19, 2024

According to IGN’s sources, Ziegler’s appointment is part of a creative shakeup at Bungie. This shakeup is apparently the result of ongoing anxiety within the studio following last year’s layoffs, which resulted in the loss of 100 Bungie employees. Bungie’s CEO Pete Parsons later described the day of the layoffs as a “sad day” for the studio, a statement that was received with criticism for being tone-deaf at the time.

Bungie’s recent layoffs appear to have been influenced by declining player numbers for Destiny 2 and disappointing pre-order figures for the upcoming expansion, The Final Shape. Shortly after announcing the job cuts, the studio revealed that it would be delaying the release of the expansion by four months, on 4 June 2024. Additionally, Bungie announced that its next major live-service venture, Marathon, has been pushed back into 2025.