Sony Hits Back Hard at Bungie Lead's $200 Million Lawsuit | Push Square

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Just before Christmas, one-time Bungie lead and director of Destiny 2 and Marathon, Chris Barrett, filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment, suing the firm for over $200 million. Sony has substantively replied for the first time, presumably getting its legal ducks in a row behind the scenes, and has come out swinging.

Game File reports that the PlayStation platform holder has fired back, publishing a string of text messages that it says proves the pattern of misconduct for which Barret was fired. The Bungie lead claimed that Sony's investigation was a «sham» designed to deny him the many, many millions owed to him following its acquisition in 2022, after a 25-year career at the studio.

Submitting a 128-page filing that essentially, line by line, refutes Barrett's claims, it's clear that Sony is not playing around. The aforementioned text messages are included, which seem quite out of pocket at first glance. However, in the pursuit of fairness and journalistic impartiality, we should note that Barrett's lawyers claim «Sony continues to disingenuously cherry pick text messages and alleged conversations». Here's one such snippet from Sony's filing:

«Barrett similarly told VICTIM 3, „I hope [your boyfriend] doesn't mind I text you a lot“ and „I just worry. Like I really enjoy texting you and talking. I don't want him to get the right idea.“ Later in the conversation, when VICTIM 3 told Barrett she was busy, Barrett stated, „I want your attention, so annoying.“

There's much, much more over at Game File, so if you're interested, Stephen Totillo goes into far greater detail. We'll keep an eye on the situation as it develops over the months, possibly years to come.

Turns out being a director at Bungie can be lucrative

What do you think of Barrett's claims and Sony's subsequent response? Let us know in the comments section below.

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most