Bungie President Stepping Down

Bungie, the company formally known for the Marathon games, mistakenly associated with the recent Halo games, and currently responsible for the reverse-trainwreck of Destiny, recently lost one of its veterans. But not just any veteran, mind--the veteran on top. Harold Ryan, president/studio head of the company for the last 16 years, seeing the company through the entire Halo series and even 2001’s Oni, is stepping down, to be replaced by another veteran, former COO Pete Parsons.
 

“I want to personally thank Harold for his friendship, passion, hard work, and dedication in helping make Bungie the great company it is today. As a team, we celebrated many victories and weathered many storms.

To the players of Destiny, I want you to know that my number one priority, and Bungie’s, is and always has been to deliver great games that we can all share together. I believe that Destiny is a one-of-a-kind experience. I also believe you have yet to see our studio’s best work. My new role here at the studio will be entirely focused on fulfilling that promise.”

What does that mean practically? Very little, for the average gamer. Despite the pedigree Bungie enjoys, it doesn’t quite have the industry-shaking impact that, say, Nintendo or Sony or Microsoft would have if they replaced one of their presidents. And with Pete Parson assuring Destiny players that their latest romp into Sci-Fi will continue to be Bungie’s top priority, well, I doubt we’ll see much change on the consumer end of things.

Still, one man’s end is a new start for a company. Let’s wish Harold good luck and look forward to the kind of job Pete does.