
Last week, DOOM Eternal composer Mick Gordon released a statement (via Medium) accusing the game's executive producer Marty Stratton of lying about the circumstances surrounding the game's soundtrack, and using "disinformation and innuendo" to blame him for its failure.
The game's publisher Bethesda has now issued an official response - labelling Gordon's recent post as a "one-sided and unjust account of an irreparable professional relationship" and rejecting "the distortion of the truth and selective presentation of incomplete facts". It went on to state how it was "ready with full and complete documented evidence to disclose in an appropriate venue as needed".
Bethesda's message goes on to mention how the statement by Gordon has incited "harassment and threats of violence" against Marty and sound designer Chad Mossholder, and that any threats at team members would be met with "swift and appropriate action".
Although there's seemingly bad blood between Marty and Mick, Bethesda further noted how it remains "incredibly proud of id's previous collaborations with Mick Gordon" and asked fans to refrain from reaching conclusions based on this single account.
Gordon's statement last week focused on Stratton's "open letter" which was posted on the DOOM subreddit back in 2010 - with Stratton explaining the "issues" that came up during the making of the OST. Here's part of what Mick had to say last week:
"... He [Marty Stratton] published a 2500+ word “open letter” on a fan-run Reddit page that singled me out as the sole cause behind the botched OST. The post attracted thousands of comments and news articles and severely damaged my personal and professional reputation. Worst of all, he did it behind my back whilst leading me on with a bulls**t story about working together on a professional solution to the problem."
You can get a much more thorough breakdown of what Mick Gordon had to say in our previous coverage:
What do you make of all this yourself? Leave a comment below.
Comments 16
“Appropriate venue”
Cultist Base maybe ?
Marty Stratton thought Reddit was an appropriate venue to throw accusations first
Sounding similar to bayonetta voice actors story being revealed as lies by real evidence from Platinum.
We have the evidence. Honest.
Well I think it's safe to say this bridge is well and truly burned to a crisp.
They got receipts!!!! 😂
@BBB only Bethesda was not the adult here, since they (Marty Stratton, to be precise) were the first ones to publicly defame Mick Gordon, something that could and likely did hurt his career.
@Tharsman Really depends on if Marty was acting on behalf of Bethesda there or not. I reckon if he had spoken to Bethesda, they almost certainly would have told him not to go to Reddit, because I'm sure there was a smart person at Bethesda somewhere.
Marty works for id Software, not Bethesda directly, he just works for one of their studios. That would be like saying an Obsidian staff member speaks on behalf of Microsoft, or Bethesda speak on behalf of Microsoft, they do not. Bethesda are likely stepping in and taking over Marty's side of the argument because it's escalating, probably giving him the backseat from now on, especially if there is a legal challenge. But yes, I imagine Bethesda is annoyed that Marty went Reddit and gave them a headache.
@Xeno_Aura straw man argument. He works for Bethesda, and Bethesda made a public statement now literally stated they support Marty’s side on this and are called Mick’s statement one sided.
And honestly, yes this also looks bad on Microsoft. Microsoft just directing press to Bethesda is imo not a good look either. Bethesda is infamous for being litigious, at least pre-acquisition. It will look horrible on Microsoft’s face if they slow Bethesda to go back to those patterns now with this, especially when it was someone on the payroll that started the whole thing by being extremely unprofessional on Reddit.
Maybe Mick missed some legal small print somewhere that made none of this illegal, but the moment Marty tried to hurt Micks reputation this turned sour. Regardless if Mick gets paid or not, this won’t look good until there is some public apology from Bethesda, Marty and maybe even MS.
Why do people keep saying Marty started this with a reddit post? That was not the beginning. Mick started this (publicly) when responding to angry fans about the low quality of the OST. The reddit post was a response.
@BBB we will have to agree to disagree indeed. If you bring children fighting analogies, this statement is the dad of one of the kids joining in on the fight kicking down the smallest child and daring them go to the principals office.
Anyone who believes anything Bethesda has ever stated is living in an alternate reality.
They have proven themselves to be lairs time and time again. I'll never believe anything they say and haven't for about 5 years when it became obvious just how much contempt Todd has for his customers.
Mick has receipts.
Bethesda has accusations, a sketchy history, jack, and $@&*.
I know who I believe.
I assume the truth lies somewhere between the two fabrications.
@BBB if you read the full statement you’ll see he did go to court and was offered a large sum of money but with the clause he had to accept all responsibility for everything and never speak of it again.
The damage to his professional reputation would stand wihout his side of the story being aired. After a year of going back and forth with Bethesda delaying things it’s only then he published his response. At this point what has he to lose ?
If Bethesda has as many receipts as the ones Mick Gordon published in his response it will be interesting to see where the truth lies.
@Jenkinss While he made the Twitter responses first, Bethesda put HIS name on what would be a cr*p ost BEFORE he was contractually obligated, worse yet, the contract came 2 days before its release meaning that the entire OST was riding on his name without his consent up until a couple days before it was marked to release, and he had no creative control while being abused by his superiors. I don't know how this man stayed sane. I've been in a toxic work environment and felt urged to do much worse than simply call out facts. I'd make a stand. But he even went back on the goodwill they'd apologize TOGETHER and release something better, which was then met with the reddit post by Marty. And if he had not met their agreement, he was going to be financially responsible for losses on the pre-order version. Think about that. They made him responsible for its delivery while he wasn't present, and then held him at gunpoint while he was trying to create the product.
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