Marty O'Donnell, the composer behind much of Halo's most well-known music, says the lawsuit he and fellow composer Mike Salvatori filed against Microsoft has been "amicably resolved."
O'Donnell and Salvatori sued Microsoft in June 2020 (though the suit went unremarked upon until February 2022) claiming the company owed them credit and compensation for the continued use of Halo music they composed. A court date had been set, but it's likely that will no longer be necessary.
"Looks like I'll be able to share some of those videos once again!" O'Donnell tweeted Monday, referring to a YouTube clip of a Halo 2 recording session. "Microsoft and O'Donnell/Salvatori, Inc., are pleased to have amicably resolved their differences."
The crux of the lawsuit concerned whether O'Donnell and Salvatori had composed the music for Halo while working as a formal part of Bungie, or as contractors. If they were Bungie employees, they likely could not expect royalties for the use of the music; if they were contractors, as they contended in their suit, they were likely owed money.
O'Donnell did not share the specific terms of the resolution of the suit, and Microsoft has yet to comment.
