Joe Ziegler Leaves Bungie, Marathon Director Role Passed to Del Chafe III
Ziegler's departure removes a key public face from Marathon's development, shifting the game's leadership to Del Chafe III and creative director Julia Nardin.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Joe Ziegler, game director of Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon, announced his departure from the studio on July 17. Del Chafe III will succeed him as game director. Ziegler, a former VALORANT director at Riot Games with a 12-year tenure there, joined Bungie in 2022. He stated he will move to a new role, with details to come. The Marathon development team will continue communication through its X account.
Joe Ziegler, who took over as game director of Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon after joining the studio in 2022, left the company on July 17. He announced the move on his X account, noting that Del Chafe III would succeed him as game director. Ziegler's tenure at Bungie was brief relative to his 12-year run at Riot Games, where he spent eight years as a designer and director on VALORANT. In June 2026, Bungie released a Japanese video message from Ziegler discussing the game's appeal. He said Marathon will continue with Chafe III and creative director Julia Nardin at the helm, and that he will announce his next destination soon.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.