Marty O’Donnell, the famed and beloved composer of the Halo soundtracks has announced his plans to run for Congress to fight for “self-sacrifice, faith, integrity, fidelity, and valor”. And he’s doing this by siding with the man who embodies the exact opposite of every single one of those qualities.
Yup, O’Donnell is fighting to be a Republican candidate for Nevada’s 3rd congressional district, apparently believing that standing alongside an insane and uncivil man is the most logical way to “bring back sanity and civility”. He announced his candidacy in a lengthy post on X, somewhat confusingly opening with his pitch for becoming a politician with “I never wanted to be a politician and I still don’t” (could’ve fooled me).
The rest of O’Donnell’s rambling post is Trumpian boilerplate 101. He moans about big government, talks about immigrants getting “handouts” and says he wants to “champion the traditional family”. If your dog is cocking its ear curiously at a mysterious sound right now, we don’t blame it.
Up until today, O’Donnell was a relatively respected figure in the video game music industry. At the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, his work on Destiny nabbed him trophies in Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition and Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design.
The only prior controversy surrounding O’Donnell saw him emerge appearing to be the hero. In 2014 he was dismissed from Halo and Destiny developers Bungie “without cause”. A lawsuit was filed and an eventual settlement was reached, with the judgment admitting that Bungie “breached the duty of good faith”. Now we suspect that good reputation is well and truly flushed down the pan, and all for a bid for a political job he says he doesn’t even want.
His fans online are already turning against him, as shown by this Discord exchange:
To aid his ambitions he’s launched a suspiciously Halo-esque campaign site with a military aesthetic that prompts you to “Join Marty’s Army”. Urgh, if he’s on the side of the humans, we’re contacting the Covenant recruiting department.
