Following Chris Barrett having been replaced as director of the Marathon reboot earlier this year, a new report is claming that the veteran developer was fired from Bungie following an internal investigation into misconduct.

According to Bloomberg, Barrett was let go by the studio this spring following allegations of inappropriate behaviour from “at least eight” female employees at the company.

The report alleges that Barrett befriended women from different departments at the studio, and sent them a “barrage of text messages that blurred the lines between professional and personal.”

It cites Bungie’s investigation as having found that the developer “called lower-level female employees attractive, asked them to play truth-or-dare and made references to his wealth and power within the studio, suggesting that he could help advance their careers.” Bloomberg also claims that staff at Bungie weren’t made aware of the situation behind Barrett’s departure, with some developers on the Marathon team being said to have been told he was “on a sabbatical”, and later found that his company accounts had been disabled.

“I feel that I have always conducted myself with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, many of whom I consider my closest friends,” Barrett said in a starement to Bloomberg, “I never understood my communications to be unwanted and I would have never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Sony Interactive Entertainment told the publication that it takes “all complaints of misconduct very seriously”, adding that its policy is to investigate any complaints “promptly”, and then take action based on the findings of said investigation.

Former Valorant game director Joe Ziegler confirmed that he’d taken over that same position on Marathon back in March, with a report from IGN citing the change as having come amid a shakeup in Bungie’s creative leadership. Bungie announced at the end of July that it was laying off 220 staff, and cited Marathon – alongside Destiny 2 – as one of the developer’s two big focuses at current, with a need to “ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve” being stressed as key by CEO Pete Parsons.