Mick Gordon has been silent about the separation from Bethesda for a long time, now he is unpacking. He lays out his point of view and contradicts pretty much everything Marty Stratton said in 2020.
After the release of Doom Eternal in March 2020, everything happened very quickly: In addition to the actual composer Mick Gordon, the credits also listed Chad Mossholder, Lead Audio Designer at id Software, as responsible for the music. In addition, the sound quality left something to be desired. Gordon was upset about this, which prompted Marty Stratton, the studio’s studio director, to make a lengthy statement.
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In this he described that working with Gordon had been problematic. He regularly delivered the music for the soundtrack too late, which regularly endangered the development of Doom Eternal. He also repeatedly delayed the submission of the official soundtrack, id Software regularly gave in and did not even reduce the bonus payments. After this statement by Stratton, there was a break between the musician and the studio, Gordon wanted to work immediately neither with id nor with Bethesda.
So far, Mick Gordon has been difficult on the subject, but now he has released a lengthy statement in which he lays down his view of things and contradicts pretty much everything Stratton has said. He speaks of extremely tight deadlines that could not realistically be met. The budget that was made available was not even remotely sufficient.
The studio also incorporated prototypes of music tracks Gordon had created for demonstration purposes into Doom Eternal without speaking to him or paying for them. According to Gordon, he was not compensated for half of the music heard in the game. The inclusion of the soundtrack in the Collector’s Edition was not discussed with him, although his name was explicitly mentioned for marketing purposes. According to id, everything had to happen very quickly, which is why the studio hadn’t spoken to him beforehand. The actual deal to create the soundtrack didn’t materialize until he approached Bethesda directly. He received the document no less than 48 hours before the game was released.
Regarding the poor quality of the soundtrack, Mick states that he never approved this version, but was simply dropped from the process in April 2020. When fans finally responded with dissatisfaction, Marty threw him in front of the train with his Reddit post. Even though he had promised Mick shortly before that he would work with him to create a better version. According to Mick, Stratton’s statement is full of lies and was released behind his back while he still believed in finding a mutual professional solution.
The worst thing, however, was that Mick’s personal and professional reputation had suffered massive damage. After Stratton’s Reddit post, people even found out and disseminated his private data. There were phone calls, emails and other business partners warned not to work with him. He even received death threats, calls for suicide, and even his family was targeted.
Mick Gordon doesn’t want to attack anyone with his statement, it’s important for him to emphasize that. Instead, he wants to speak the truth and defend himself. Bethesda even offered him a six-figure sum as hush money, but it was more important to him to create clear relationships. Had he accepted, he would have to admit that the faulty soundtrack was his fault and he shouldn’t have spoken about the subject in any way.
Another ugly mud fight brewing in the world of video games. Only the two parties involved know exactly where the truth lies. You can read Mick Gordon’s full statement hereyou can hear new music from him for example from February 2023 in Atomic Heart.
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