Destiny creative director and writer leaves Bungie

Long-serving Bungie writer Joe Staten has parted ways with the developer.

Staten's departure was announced in an update to the Bungie website, where he gave no explanation for the move beyond a desire for new challenges.

"After 15 great years at Bungie, from the battlefields of Myth to the mysteries of Halo and beyond, I'm leaving to tackle new creative challenges. While this may come as a surprise, fear not," Staten wrote.

"It's been my pleasure building Destiny these past four years, and after the big reveal this Summer, our hugely talented team is on track for greatness. I'll be cheering all of them, with all of you, when the game launches next year. Thank you for your support of me, and your continued support of Bungie. We couldn't have done it without you."

Joe or Joseph Staten joined Bungie in 1998 and worked on Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Halo 3, and wrote novel Halo: Contact Harvest.

Destiny, a shared-worlds shooter, is coming to PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in 2014.