Marathon game director Joe Ziegler has announced that he’s leaving Bungie for a new job, and his departure comes at a tumultuous time for the studio.
Ziegler said in a note that taking over for him as game director on Marathon will be Del Chafe III, who was previously the assistant game director. Chafe III will work alongside creative director Julia Nardin to “guide the game forward.”
“Both of them have been operating in a strong leadership capacity for the team and are ready to guide Marathon into the next chapter with an even better and brighter future,” Ziegler said. “I’m proud of them and I’m excited to see them helm the future of this crazy little world we’ve created together.”
Ziegler said he is “heading to something new, somewhere else,” and will announce his new job soon.
“I just want to say a deeply heartfelt thank you to all of you for supporting me and Marathon in our windy mission to bring a dark and terrifying space survival frontier to your screen,” Ziegler said. “The mission will continue in new and surprising ways so stay tuned for what this team has in store for you!”
Ziegler was not Marathon’s first game director. Christopher Barrett was game director on the project until he was dismissed over misconduct allegations. Earlier this month, Barrett settled his case with Bungie and Sony.
Ziegler joined Bungie at the end of 2022, following a 12-year run at Riot Games. He’s leaving Bungie at a challenging time for the Sony-owned studio, which enacted a round of layoffs at the end of June. The cuts impacted the Destiny and Marathon teams.