Former Halo Composer Suing Bungie

343 Industries may have inherited the license, but the Halo Wars have gotten very real now that original series' composer has slapped former employee Bungie with a lawsuit.

VentureBeat reports that longtime Halo composer Marty O'Donnell has filed a lawsuit against Bungie and studio president Harold Ryan for failure in paying him for his unpaid vacation time, paid time off and other benefits before being fired by the company's board of directors without any justifiable reasoning.

O'Donnell is known for directing the voice talent and doing the sound design for Halo 1-3. He is also known for composing the soundtracks of Bungie's entries of the Halo series. Prior to Halo, O'Donnell composed the soundtracks for Bungie's early titles, Myth and Oni. Most fans would recognize O'Donnell as the man responsible for composing the series' iconic theme song.

Last April, we reported that O'Donnell was fired from Bungie without cause while he was still working on composing the music for Destiny, which is believed to still be using his original score. O'Donnell's lawsuit was filed on May 1, and, on May 27, Bungie and Harold Ryan formally responded by saying O'Donnell wasn't due any relief pay for any of his accumulated vacation time, paid time off or any other benefits.

Thanks to VentureBeat yet again, we have posted a copy of Marty O'Donnell's lawsuit against Bungie along with Bungie's formal response.

Marty O'Donnell's lawsuit against Bungie

Bungie's answer to lawsuit by Marty O'Donnell