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Official - Bungie Departing Microsoft
jasoncart writes "Microsoft today confirmed the news that has been speculated for some days, that Halo developer Bungie is 'on the path' to becoming an independent company. Microsoft describes this as an 'evolution' of their relationship, but no concrete reason is given for this move. 'Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the company was "supporting Bungie's desire to return to its independent roots". However, he added, Microsoft "will continue to invest in our Halo entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the Halo universe". "We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through Halo-related titles and new IP created by Bungie," he added.'" MTV wonders out loud ... if Bungie doesn't make Halo 4 who will? The official press release from Bungie gives you the same information from the other side, as does an interview with Frankie at GameDailyBiz. Update: 10/05 21:25 GMT by Z : In the wake of the announcement Kotaku has a quickie email interview discussing the future of the company.
...that I'm not on the inside so I don't know all the little happenings that occur behind closed doors, but it's quite obvious that the Halo franchise is a boon to both Bungie and to Microsoft...I wouldn't be suprised if Halo remained a Bungie and Microsoft exclusive venture....Bungie getting more freedom to do what they wish with the franchise, and getting a healthy sum of money from Microsoft in the process.
In all honesty, both sides would be foolish to give up the current relationship they have with that franchise, even if Bungie becomes 100% independent.
Living With a Nerd
Personally, I would love to see Bungie (finally) create a non-Halo title. They make good games, it'd be nice to see a good game that isn't a moderate evolution of a previous one. Enough with the sequels.
And If I was a game developer working on the same title for years on end - I'd probably want a change too.
Personally I'd love to see them develop a non-Halo title. Bungee makes great games, it'd be nice to see their creative talents leaned in a different direction. Enough with the sequels. And I can imagine if I was a game developer working with the same series for years on end (since 1999?), I'd probably want a change too. If they develop a non-Halo title, for PC, I'd be one of the first to try it.
Ever since Bungie was purchased by Microsoft, they've done nothing but produce Halo for the XBox. No PC ports, no different games, they're barely even allowed to produce story-driven single player content. Go back and look at Bungie's pre-Xbox games: the Marathon series (which was intended to tie in to Halo), the Myth series, even Pathways into Darkness was more original than Halo 3.
I was angry with Bungie when, just a few months before Halo was to be released as a Mac exclusive, Microsoft bought them out and put them to work. But eventually I began to feel sorry for them. Bungie has had its creativity stifled for quite some time now and they've finally realized it.
No Halo 4? You mean, $170 Million in the FIRST day of sales isn't enough incentive to make Halo 4? I'm sorry, but there's way too much money wrapped up in that franchise. It's not going anywhere soon.
Microsoft doesn't know how to milk people for money, you say? Let's look at two of Microsoft's base products, XP and Vista. Now they could just release two full-featured packages, one of XP and one of Vista, but that's not how you profit.
This is how you profit: Making ten versions of two products, with minor differences in between versions, but charging $100 more to advance to the next level.
XP Home Edition
XP Professional
XP Tablet PC Edition
XP Media Center Edition
XP Professional x64 Edition
Vista Home Basic
Vista Home Premium
Vista Business
Vista Enterprise
Vista Ultimate
While it's not exactly merchandising, it's pretty damn close.