Harold Ryan
Harold Ryan's photo on his Meet the Team page.
Harold Ryan is a former president and CEO of Bungie and was the company's chairman of the board of directors.[1] He joined Bungie around 2000 as a test manager for Halo: Combat Evolved. He also served as test manager and producer for Bungie.net during the time of Halo 2. By 2007, he had become studio manager and, shortly thereafter, became president of the studio.
Harold Ryan was also the bearer of bad news for the Bungie community on 7/15/08, when he announced that the "secret announcement" that was planned to be made just 12 hours later was delayed by Bungie's publishers.
Ryan appears alongside Marty O'Donnell (left), Jonty Barnes, and Ondraus Jenkins, in meme format from Bungie's blog.
While he kept out of the public eye, he did make a few appearances. His first noticeable appearance was on Bungie.net in the form of a note on July 13, 2008,[2][3] announcing that Bungie had plans to reveal "something exciting" during the week of E3 but their plans were changed by their publisher (Microsoft). He said that Bungie realized that many fans would be disappointed, because Bungie was disappointed, and that the announcement would be shared in the future.
Ryan appeared onstage at Sony's PlayStation 4 reveal event in 2013,[4] introducing Destiny. Due to Marty O'Donnell telling Ryan, Ondraus Jenkins, and Jonty Barnes to keep their hands out of their pockets, they became a meme due to how off their stances looked.[5]
Later that year, Ryan also gave several interviews about the game during E3.[6][7]
On January 27, 2016, Bungie announced that Ryan had stepped down as the president of Bungie and would be replaced by new CEO Pete Parsons.[8][1] Ryan founded a new studio soon after, ProbablyMonsters.
Trivia[]
- Harold Ryan once had the smallest desk at Bungie.
- The H. Ryan Memorial medal[9] is named after him and could be earned by killing wildlife in Halo: Reach's campaign. However, it did not appear in the game - only on Bungie.net in a player's campaign stats. Due to the Halo franchise transferring to 343 Industries, this medal can no longer be earned and no longer exists.
From Ryan's old "Meet the Team" page on Bungie.net in 2012:[10]
| Nickname: Deripper | Classification: GrizzledAncients |
| Current Job: Arbiter | Origin: Earth |
| Blood Type: Red | Age: 4 |
| Weight: 210 pounds | Height: 5'9" |
| Girth: Grunty | |
| First Job: Slash and Burn | |
| Hobby: Work | |
| Ultimate Halo Match: Slayer, Rockets | |
| Ultimate Snack: Vegans | |
| Ultimate Website: http://www.shmoo.com/ | |
| Mode of Transport: Cheap, slow, dirty. | |
| Greatest Fear: deltree | |
| Biography: Classified | |
| Rant: Git to werk. | |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Polygon.com - Bungie president Harold Ryan steps down, Pete Parsons taking over (January 27, 2016)
- ↑ Bungie.net - Superintendent: General Discussion: Duardo (July 13, 2008)
- ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - E3 Announce (July 15, 2008 7:00 PM)
- ↑ YouTube - PlayStation: PlayStation 4 Announcement Live Stream (Replay) (February 21, 2013)
- ↑ Bungie.net - New Beginnings (February 22, 2013)
- ↑ Destiny Wiki - Exclusive Interview with Harold Ryan - President of Bungie, Inc (August 4, 2013)
- ↑ YouTube - Game Informer: Bungie's President Talks Destiny (June 11, 2013)
- ↑ Bungie.net (archived) - Bungie Studio News (January 27, 2016)
- ↑ Halopedia - H. Ryan Memorial medal
- ↑ Bungie.net (archived) - Meet the Team: Harold Ryan