It’s been over two years since Doom Eternal composer Mick Gordon fell out with Bethesda Softworks. long and detailed statement (opens in new tab) on his side of the dispute. Gordon claims he was the target of unfair and dishonest behavior on the part of id Software, largely perpetrated by Doom Eternal executive producer Marty Stratton, but said, “I never quit Doom. Toxic.” I’ve never quit a good client,” defending his commitment to the game.
Surface cracks first appeared after the official Doom Eternal OST was released in April 2020. Sound quality was dangerous. (opens in new tab), and Gordon quickly clarified that he did not mix most of the tracks. He also expressed doubts about working with Bethesda again, in light of his long and seemingly successful relationship with the studio across games, including his 2016 Doom reboot, Wolfenstein reboot, and Prey. So this was a very surprising statement.
In May, Stratton posted an “open letter” on Reddit. (opens in new tab) In it he praised Gordon as a composer, but described him as unreliable and difficult to work with. He said that Gordon was not able to meet the OST deadline he agreed to, and that his two-month extension granted on his request was not enough, and that id Software was the lead audio designer. He said he was forced to hold Mossholder accountable. Stratton said the remarks on Reddit were caused by a “direct and personal attack” Gordon made on Mossholder, and while he wishes Gordon well, Bethesda and id Software added that they will not be collaborating with him on the Doom Eternal DLC.
Gordon declined to comment at the time, but today’s statement paints a very different picture than the one presented by Stratton. Chanting, Stratton unfairly blamed his failure, saying he “lyed about the circumstances surrounding the Doom Eternal soundtrack” and “used disinformation and innuendo.”
“Marty’s posting on Reddit seriously affected both my professional and personal reputation,” Gordon wrote. “By issuing this statement, I am exercising my right to defend myself. This is not an ill-founded attack and only after all other attempts to resolve the issue have failed. It is an extremely reluctant defense.”
Gordon also appealed to his fans and followers not to respond with abusive language towards those involved. make things worse. ”
@idSoftware studio director Marty Stratton lied about @DOOM Eternal’s OST event in a Reddit post, using disinformation to put the blame for the failure entirely on me. ://t.co/zSNo2QG1mINovember 9, 2022
After explaining the nature of his employment (Stratton is an independent contractor, not an employee of id Software or Bethesda) and his work, Stratton said he encountered many difficulties while composing Doom Eternal. I was. Directions and supporting material, slow communication, lots of interruptions. Scheduling “was a masterpiece in Excel, but a disaster in practice,” Gordon writes, but efforts to come up with a more viable one were unsuccessful. He said Stratton “rejected” his criticism of the schedule, characterizing it as “a sign of incompetence.”
This was at the very beginning of the project, and according to Gordon things got worse as development progressed. Gordon claims he worked for months (almost a full year at one point) without pay and was unaware of the plans to release an official soundtrack until it was announced at E3 2019. Crunch, he says. , was brutal for both him and id Software: Gordon said one of the reasons for not having a good strategy for the OST release was “thin by the overwhelming pressure that id Software would make a November 22nd release date.” It was stretched out and had no capacity,’ speculated to deal with other pressing issues. ”
I was appalled. Not only for Marty turning his back on our agreed path forward, but also for his shameless disregard for the truth in his attacks. ”
— Mick Gordon, composer of Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal was eventually released to critical acclaim, but Gordon said he hadn’t signed a deal for the soundtrack yet, and when the OST was released, he said, delay (opens in new tab) As of March 2020, he had not yet been offered a contract for the job. Stratton eventually revealed to Gordon that id Software had been working on an “alternative OST” at least six months before a contract offer, with Gordon finally making it just two days before Doom Eternal’s release. A last-minute effort to collaborate on the project failed, at which point Stratton decided to release Mossholder’s work.
“I could have protested, but it was of no avail,” Gordon wrote. “Under the contract, Marty was guaranteed veto power and complete creative control over him. Ultimately, I was just a contractor. is managing
“I voiced my concerns [Chad Mossholder’s] Edit, hope it’s improved since last week. I said I needed to make sure the album adhered to mastering standards and provide specific details in that regard. ”
Ultimately, Bethesda confirmed that Gordon had met his contractual obligations and paid him what he owed. It was full of real and obvious technical flaws, mistakes, and errors that resulted from careful editing.” He said it was his discovery that it contained a “massive amount” of unpaid music. That led to a phone call between Gordon and Stratton, in which Gordon said he and Stratton had agreed to issue a joint statement to resolve the OST issue. Posted his “open letter” and blamed it on Gordon.
“I was appalled,” Gordon wrote. “Not only was Marty turning his back on our agreed path, but also his shameless disregard for the truth in his attacks. and false information were scattered.”
Lawyers are said to have been involved and settlement offers have been exchanged. Gordon said he was offered a “six-figure amount” in exchange for taking responsibility for the soundtrack’s problems, but his offer to produce a suitable OST was withheld. Stratton’s refusal to take down the Reddit post “would hurt his reputation,” his lawyer said.
Fed up with Stratton’s open letter calling his reputation into question (he said “incidents of online abuse escalated at an alarming rate” following the post), Gordon eventually deleted the post via a sympathetic Doom subreddit mod. It made it clear in the strongest terms that no solution is possible.”
He resorted to lies and innuendos…and tried to bury the problem under piles of cash. ”
— Mick Gordon
According to Gordon, due to Stratton’s reaction, his only option was to issue a public statement to repair his reputation.
“Marty couldn’t accept that I never wanted to work with him again and tried his best to send my career plummeting as punishment.” But it collapsed at the most basic level of scrutiny and then tried to bury the problem under piles of cash.
“Using non-disclosure agreements, settlements and gag orders to silence the truth are appalling tactics used by those in positions of power out of fear of accountability. Because the other way around was to accept that tactic as fine.”
As a fan of both Mick Gordon and Doom, I am sorry that their relationship has deteriorated so badly. There’s clearly an animus here that goes far beyond disagreements over creative direction. Gordon said his statement did not reflect the “overwhelmingly positive and successful relationships” he has built “with the many people and studios under the ZeniMax umbrella” with whom he has worked. He said the project and the people were “still cherished”. [his] However, it’s clear that Gordon and Stratton’s relationship is broken on a deeper level, and Gordon’s prediction that he won’t be working with Bethesda again is likely to come true.
I have reached out to Bethesda for comment on Gordon’s statement and will update if I hear back.
