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.

I know

[Anonymous Coward]

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

[sunsfan1991]

Comming soon to the Wii

Re:Huh?

[jollyreaper]

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!"

Can we say it?

[russbutton]

Bungie is jumping...

Re:Huh?

[peragrin]

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

Apparently...

[Floritard]

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

Did any other British readers read this as...

[JustNiz]

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

Clearly what will happen

[Joe the Lesser]

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.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Finally

[MrCopilot]

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

Re:Huh?

[Yvan256]

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

Shut It..

[jeko]

You shut your filthy mouth! Clamp that pie hole shut! Don't you know even breathing an idea that foul can make it come true?! Say things like that and tomorrow we could all wake up to find Stan Lee has signed over licenses to all the Marvel properties to Uwe ... Oh God ...

Re:Halo, Yaaaawn

[enderjsv]

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

Re:Huh?

[kestasjk]

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.