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.

Comments

Re:Nobody should be surprised

[plague3106]

I did, and I can see that they WERE targeting mac exclusively. The question still remains as to WHY. It doesn't make good economic sense.

They can port all they want; I don't think many people knew of Marathon 2. Hits on the Mac don't necessarly translate to hits on the PC. Again, if MS didn't buy Bungie, I would've never heard of them or Marathon.

Re:Huh?

[douji]

i can't believe (almost) everyone's missing the spaceballs reference. that makes me sad :( (sidenote: back to the woot off. that makes me ANGRY!!!)

But they still ripped them off indirectly

[Joce640k]

Imagine how many copies a Windows XP version would have sold...