Veteran who worked on Halo, Destiny, and Marathon leaves Bungie

Lars Bakken dedicated over 20 years of his life to the studio.

It has been announced that one of Bungie's most experienced employees has left the company. Lars Bakken has retired from the gaming industry after nearly 21 years at the studio and 28 years in the profession.

Bakken's last position was Senior Design Lead. Over the years, he made significant contributions to the creation of Halo and Destiny: he worked on Halo 3 multiplayer, led the development of the Firefight mode in Halo: Reach, was one of the lead designers for the first Destiny, was responsible for PvP design in Destiny 2, and also participated in the creation of the Shadowkeep and The Witch Queen expansions.

Unlike many colleagues who left Bungie due to layoffs, Bakken left voluntarily, announcing his retirement. In his LinkedIn profile, he humorously listed his new "profession" as a dog walker.