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.

Huh?

MTV wonders out loud ... if Bungie doesn't make Halo 4 who will?

Isn't that kind of a moot point, since they *are* going to be continuing the Halo series?

Re:Huh?

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.

Re:Huh?

And If I was a game developer working on the same title for years on end - I'd probably want a change too.

Not so with Microsoft; they know how to milk a cash cow when they find one. Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the real money from the game is made. Halo: the T-shirt, Halo: the coloring book, Halo: the lunch box, Halo: the breakfast cereal, Halo: the flamethrower--the kids love this one--last but not least, Halo: the doll. *squeeze* "Gimme mah money, bitch!"

Re:Huh?

I take it you really want Spaceballs: The search for more money to finally be released.

Re:Huh?

Everyone knows the next Spaceballs will be "Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2."

Re:Huh?

You mean Star Wars : The Phantom Menace wasn't directed by Mel Brooks?

Re:Huh?

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.

Re:Huh?

And If I was a game developer working on the same title for years on end - I'd probably want a change too.

Not so with Microsoft; they know how to milk a cash cow when they find one. Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the real money from the game is made. Halo: the T-shirt, Halo: the coloring book, Halo: the lunch box, Halo: the breakfast cereal, Halo: the flamethrower--the kids love this one--last but not least, Halo: the doll. *squeeze* "Gimme mah money, bitch!"

Yup, the last thing we need is more crappy merchandise from Microsoft. I remember Vista the movie, Visual Studio.NET party balloons, Microsoft Office action figures; those guys just don't know when to stop.

The problem is that selling crappy merchandise is so much more lucrative than the billion dollar expanding software market.

Re:Huh?

Just because they own the IP and made the first few games, does not mean that they have to make all the games in perpituity.

For example, Id Software, despite providing the engine and making Quake 1-3, did not develop Quake 4 -- it developed by Raven Software.

Re:Huh?

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.

I know...

...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.

Re:I know...

or maybe the Bungie developers threatened to all quit if Microsoft did not let them go back to being independent. If you notice, they have been somewhat tied to MS Xbox360 and that's not being too independent. The PS2 is still the dominant game platform and the PS3 isn't something to just ignore. Not to mention the Bungie developers might actually want to product a PS3 version because of what that hardware brings.

Just as Microsoft purchased SoftImage only to get them to product a Windows OS version and tried to terminate the UNIX version because the goal was to build support for the WindowsNT OS. In the SoftImage deal, Microsoft ran into major fights with employees over this Windows-only push from Microsoft. Microsoft eventually spit SoftImage back out and they continue to support both *nix and Windows platforms. This Bungie split sounds quite like the SoftImage deal and especially so after hearing how well Halo 3 for Xbox360 sold. You'd think Microsoft would REALLY want to keep control of that kind of money maker and not let the split off to support the other guys.

And who knows, maybe there was quite an uproar from other game vendors because of the ownership of competing game developers such as Bungie? Would really like to know how/why this happened.

LoB

I know

MTV wonders out loud ... if Bungie doesn't make Halo 4 who will?

Uwe Boll. It's going to be the world's first interactive Broadway musical in space plot.

Halo 3

Comming soon to the Wii

misleading

bungie arnt LEAVING microsoft, microsoft will continue to own and own the right too bungie, but bungie will now be free to do their own projects outside of halo.

Nobody should be surprised

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.

Re:Nobody should be surprised

A very very pathetic attempt at marketing.

Re:Nobody should be surprised

I hate to break this to you, but Bungie was on its way to bankruptcy and the Microsoft buy-out saved them. There were reports to that effect at the time.

Besides that, do a web search for an "Evolution of Halo" video. It's a quicktime video made a few years ago, about 30 minutes long or so (maybe an hour), that features Bungie developers showing footage of Halo at its various stages of development, since it was first announced at Mac World, then became a PC/Mac title, and right up until the Xbox version. The video includes commentary by three Bungie devs and at one point they talk of the fact that had it not been for Microsoft, Halo would never have been completed and released, period. Bungie was on the ropes as a company before MS bought them.

Bring back Marathon!

Perhaps Bugnie wants to get back to developing for other non-windows platforms as well?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_Trilogy [wikipedia.org]

They won't let him jump TOO far...

They'll attach to his hip with a deep-a-ccord...

Can we say it?

Bungie is jumping...

Apparently...

Bungie is as tired of hearing about Halo as I am!

Oni 2?

Soo... does this mean that now there is like a chance that Bungie will make that Oni sequel? http://www.bungie.net/Projects/Oni/default.aspx [bungie.net]

You know... something above the "snowball in hell" and "1 in a million" level?

Did any other British readers read this as...

Bungle is leaving Microsoft? I guess that only leaves Zippy....

Good article on Bungie

There is an interesting and surprisingly in depth article on Bungie and how they went about developing for Halo 3. They follow Bungie's development process and get into things like how Bungie solved different AI problems etc. Anyway when you have some free time, it's 6 pages long, hop over to http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/15-09/ff_halo [wired.com] and give it a read. Btw I don't own an Xbox and never played Halo but I still found the article very interesting.

What about Halo 7?

If they don't do Halo 7, then how will we have world peace [loadingreadyrun.com]?

Halo DS?

Does this mean that they are goign to release Halo DS [joystiq.com]?

should have seen this coming

Just a few days ago Robert Scoble wrote about [scobleizer.com] how Bungie was the one bright spot in the sea of Microsoft:

Microsoft needs a new story. If I were on the management team I'd be looking hard at the Bungie team, the folks who brought us Halo 3.

Bungie splitting off makes a lot of sense, but I doubt it is the start of a trend at Microsoft. I used to work at MGS, and with Bungie -- they had a longer leash than any other group that I knew about at the company, and they fought constantly to keep it that way.

Clearly what will happen

Is that Bungie get as far away as Microsoft as they can without crashing the company, hold their own for a bit, but then come run rushing back towards Microsoft though never as close, and then they will distance themselves again but less severe, and so on and so forth.

So does this mean...

We can actually go out and buy legal copies of Halo for Mac now?

getting bungied ..

Is this what's known as getting bungied .. ?

So Bungie becomes like Polyphony

Besides Shane Kim's statment of Bungie/MS continuing relationship quoted in the summary, the article also says:

Bungie studio head Harold Ryan described the move as "an exciting evolution" of the relationship with Microsoft.
"We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft's platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through Halo and beyond," he said.

The article also says Microsoft will "will retain an equity interest" in Bungie.

This tells me that Bungie simply goes from Microsoft 1st party to Microsoft 2nd party, like Sony's relationship with Polyphony (makers of GT).

 

Myth IV?

Anyone remember Myth I,II,III? Now that was a fun series! A giant battlefield with zombies and other cool dudes to blow up with dwarfs. It'd be awesome if there was ever another game in this series.

Apart from the Total War series, are there any other similar games to the old Myth?

Way back

I remember way back reading Blues news and loonyboi had this new game from Bungie, how great it was going to be and it was comming out on PC next year. Well next year came, Microsoft baught Bungie and it became an X-Box only title.

I was so dissapointed, I don;t play console games.

I think it finally came out on the PC 1 1/2 year later but by that time my interest in the game was gone.

And I think this is what Bungie is seeing now. Yes they are probably making money under Microsoft ownership, but are also probably losing millions due to platform restrictions. who know i might buy Halo4.

Yay!

Maybe they'll go back to making Mac games again. Won't hold my breath though.

Finally

Praise Kevin Bacon! I was very pissed when Bungie sold out to MS. Bungie used to make great products, especially for the make. Their graphics were unrivaled in their day and for many years afterwards even by Id. Since then I don't believe Bungie has made a single Mac title/port (not that I recall at least). I for one am quite glad Bungie made the split.

Who will make Halo 4?

No one.... it has been said time and again, Halo was a TRILOGY. Just like Marathon ended at game 3 and Bungie wouldn't budge on that, so will Halo and thats a GOOD THING. Id rather 3 good games, than 3 good games and loads of crappy sequels to cash in and unlike Mario or Zelda or others where they all remake themselves in some way, there is only so much you can do with a FPS at this point before it stops being a FPS.

Halo Wars = Halo 4?

Why is suddenly everyone crapping their pants about if there will be a Halo 4 when there already is a 4th Halo game coming out in the form of Halo Wars ? [wikipedia.org] From what I know about Halo 3, the game is some type of prelude or beginning of some epic battle...then you have a game called Halo Wars coming along, which will be more of an RPG in the vein of MMORPG's rather than a shooter like the first 3 games have been.

Okay, so Halo Wars is being developed by Ensemble Studios, not Bungie, but seriously, this will be more or less the 4th Halo game, and hopefully Bungie moves on to make new games.

Although, personally, I wouldn't mind them back treading a bit and remaking Marathon before officially or un-offically closing the door on development for Halo games. :D

Myth! Multiple platforms... something NEW

I'm not into FPS but I hear halo is pretty good. Marathon was good back in it's day. Another title you may not have known about was the Myth series. Hot damn I loved that series. It's classified under strategy games but it's really an early foray into tactical unit management and it was brilliant. I miss it so. It was one game that I wasn't good at, never once won an online game I played. And yet I couldn't get enough multiplayer. All that 3D work and physics modelling you see in WC3 and SC2... Myth pioneered that in "strategy" games ten years ago.

I want to see new Mac games from Bungie again. I liked playing all their games, even FPS. Doom and quake never interested me. Marathon... there was just something about Marathon. The best companies invest in the mythos and storyline of their game. Bungie does that so well. When Bungie was purchased by Microsoft and halo taken to xbox, I lost all interest.

And hell, it's about time they just came up with something completely new.

All I can say is WOOHOOO!!!!

I have been a Bungie fan for a LONG time (since Marathon), and loved them back then. And loved them even more for games like Myth: The Fallen Lords series. But ever since MS bought them and brought them into their entertainment division, all other series other then Halo have been simply written off and no new work done on new franchises other then Halo. Basically their A team was told, Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, etc., etc. If you finish one of them start working on the next....

Good precedent

Maybe we'll start seeing all that great talent EA assimilated start struggling and freeing itself back to independent, free-thinking studios that can create real products with value.

MTV And Halo = Protecting Conformity

MTV is a music channel that has never done anything apart from pushing the most bland and boring parts of the music scene over-and-over again into the minds of teenagers who are so desperate to conform in order to avoid standing out in a crowd where they would be ridiculed by their peers.

Halo is also very "safe". It's popular brand that is currently very cool to say you like - that's the main reason for it's popularity.

MTV and Halo go very well hand-in-hand together - watch MTV and you don't have to get off your spotty teenage backside and go find more interesting music. Play Halo, and you don't have to bother playing far better games like Half-Life or Unreal Tournament.

Marathon, Myth and Bungie

I absolutely loved Bungie's pre-microsoft games. Now, I am not commenting on Halo, 'cause I haven't played it, and the entire franchise has received nothing but great
ratings are reviews, but I well remember back in the day going to Bungie's online store, and finding a good bye letter from one of the original members who decried the
buyout and called MS the Borg. I also remember seeing Halo previews way back then, the release of which seemed imminent, but the game was subsequently held back for years to be the XBOX' flagship release.

I, for one, would love to see Bungie get back out from under MS, and develop some more original titles, as was their strength.

Myth: The Fallen Lords, and Myth II: Soulbighter remain two of my all-time faves, and are still playable today.

Can someone please explain Halo?

Let me preface with the fact that this is NOT a flame on Halo.

I got Halo for the PC when it was still in a bit of hype, and was fairly disappointed. The story seemed no where near as good as half-life, the game play not as good as counterstrike or unreal tournament, etc. Graphics just on par with any FPS out at the time..

I'm not saying it is a bad game, just that I cant see what makes it good. Is that on console the coop mode is what makes it good? Or is it (my theory) that FPS isn't that good of a game type on console and the console people just don't know what they are missing w/ a game of the year type FPS?

Anyone?

Looks like they want to return to the Mac

"But sure, now that we're branching of and controlling our destiny, that puts us in a position where we could put ourselves back on the [Mac] platform definitively again," said Jarrard." From this MacWorld article [macworld.com].

Maybe another Marathon sequal?

I'd love to see them do another Marathon sequel with the Halo engine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_Trilogy [wikipedia.org]

Finally

Now we can all wait patiently for ONI_2 for the PC.

The only thought in my head is...

FROG BLAST THE VENT CORE!!!

I don't know if you can go home again....

But there are very few game companies that I take seriously. Blizzard is one. Another is the Pre-Microsoft Bungie. While I didn't buy everything they made, everything they made was given a great deal of consideration. When MS bought Bungie it was a dark dark day for me.

Now that they are parting ways I will certainly watch what the do closely. If they can come up with PC games of the quality and innovation of Myth and Marathon I will certainly welcome them back into my home.

Rare FASA

Now If Rare and FASA would leave Microsoft I'd be happy.

Who cares about Halo?

Seriously, who cares about Halo?

If Bungie shakes loose of Microsoft's cruel embrace, they should immediately buy the Myth IP back from Take2, conduct a throughout investigation of Where The Heck Myth II Loki Source Code Really Went (current myth2 devs don't seem to know what happened to it), and release an updated Linux binary. I mean, that ought to tell Microsoft a hint or two. =)

(Well, the Linux binary still works, but it seems I need to use the static binary and it appears to no longer do OpenGL or support gamma correction, and latter in particular makes the game highly annoying to play... Perhaps all it needs is a recompilation against the new versions of the libraries.)

Re:I am baffled.

I played Halo 1 on the PC, it was okay but not a patch on Half-Life 1 or 2 for single player or Unreal Tournament 2004 for multiplayer.

I thought the little chattering aliens running about turned Halo 1 into a Disney game for 10 year olds.

I played it once all the way through then sold my copy on eBay.

Vastly overrated game.

Sorry, but no.

I've been a FPS fanatic, and my favorite to date is still the Doom series. In particular the second. I grew up on Quake swinging from grappling hooks. I've played through Duke and beat aliens in Half-Life 1 and 2. The Halo series is pretty unique in the fact the atmosphere is pretty damn good. Next to Terminator: Future Shock and Skynet I can't think of another FPS that had such a great atmosphere. While I didn't care much for the second game, the third seemed to do EVERYTHING fantastic. Everything was finely tuned, the entire home theater experience was second to none. Sitting on a couch and having your 5.1 surround sub shaking the entire building to the ground while you "finished the fight" was nothing short of pure awesome.

I'm sorry you have a grudge against Halo, or maybe even "non-mouse and keyboard" games, but this series is beyond "average", and in fact it's pretty dang good. The reviews and sales show the obvious, a lot of other people agree.

Re:Halo 4?

Clearly somebody didn't keep watching after the credits...

Re:Halo, Yaaaawn

I'm still waiting for Call of Duty, book-on-tape. Cheers to cross-format publication.

Re:I am baffled.

Typical that that'd get modded down flamebait.

I for one agree completely with what you're saying. Halo has never been anything like the CoD franchise, isn't as much fun as the original UT and has a story line that is surpassed by the original Doom. Furthermore, I think Valve is a lot more creative when it comes to multiplayer action. They've got their death matches with Half-Life 2, they've got their Counter strike, they've got their Day of Defeat CTF bit.... I don't understand what the BFD is about the Halo franchise.

And as far as the Xbox 360 goes, I've seen ghost recon on the 360, and that game is infinitely more interesting than Halo ever was. Granted, personally I am not that happy with my Wii on the FPS front, because I'm stuck playing CoD 3 on it, and on a normal non-HDTV it's just not as good as on a PC. Even though the sound roxx.

You can mod me all to hell, but I just don't get it. Specifically on /.: who gives a toss about Halo?

Re:I am baffled.

You got modded as flaimbait but I actually agree with you. I remember playing Halo 1 when it first came out for the Xbox. About 5 minutes into playing I had a revelation: "I have seen this somewhere before......oh yeah Halflife" Halflife was a ground breaking FPS which integrated an awesome story with great action. Halo did the same but after playing HL (think back to when HL was first released) it just seemed repetitive. I think Console Systems brought games and specifically FPS games into a more socially acceptable light. Halo just happened to be one of the first console FPS games and thus was the first FPS a lot of console gamers were exposed to.