Official - Bungie Departing Microsoft 266
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.
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)
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:Nobody should be surprised (Score:3, Informative)
Re:misleading (Score:1, Informative)
Wrong. MS will retain partial ownership only.
Remember when Nintendo passed on their option to completely buy out Rare? At the time, Nintendo only partially owned Rare (49%, I think). Nintendo sold off their portion of the company out of dissatisfaction, leaving Rare open to a complete buyout by MS. MS's relationship with Bungie is now similar to Nintendo's with Rare prior to Rare's sellout - MS retains Halo, just like Nintendo retained (and still retains) Donkey Kong Country. But currently MS does not retain the rights to Bungie's own IPs like Marathon, just like Nintendo does not have the rights to Perfect Dark.
Full Marathon refresh on Wii, anyone?
Re:Huh? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:I liked Myth alot (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, Microsoft is keeping the IP, not Bungie:
"Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie, at the same time continuing its long-standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft-owned "Halo" intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie."
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/oct07/10-05BungieEvolvesPR.mspx [microsoft.com]
Re:Nobody should be surprised (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Nobody should be surprised (Score:3, Informative)
while it is true that they needed an infusion of cash, its not a stretch to imagine a world where that cash came from another source. Someplace like Apple for instance (to make it mac exclusive, or at least mac first) or perhaps another gaming company.
Clearly this was a good move for MS, but I remember what was being promised with Halo back in the beginning and what was delivered was very different. At least some of those changes were due to the fact that it was an X-box release instead of a Mac/PC game.
Re:Huh? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Can someone please explain Halo? (Score:2, Informative)
Recycling content [slashdot.org]. Somebody asks this exact same question every time there's a Halo or Bungie article.
Re:I know... (Score:3, Informative)
MS paid Nintendo ~300 million for Nintendo's 49% share of Rare. Presumably they paid Rare a similar amount for the rest of the company.
As for comparing the values of the company, that's a tough call. Rare owned the rights to Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Killer Instinct, Conker, and some assorted other properties, some recent, some not. The only thing Bungie has done in this decade is Halo, which MS is retaining the rights to. They've got the rights to their older games, but none of them are fresh, so their value is low. Rare also was a much larger studio. Bungie works on one game at a time, whereas Rare typically did 3-4 at a time back then.
Re:Halo Wars = Halo 4? (Score:2, Informative)
What? Halo Wars will be a straight-up RTS, like Age of Empires (hey, it is Ensemble making it). It's not "Halo 4", because it's not following the Chief/Cortana/Arbiter/Flood storyline that was finished in Halo 4. Also, as I understand it, Halo Wars is supposed to be a prequel of sorts to Halo 1, being set earlier in the Human/Covenant war than Halo 1 itself. If there is a "Halo 4", it would have to be a new Chief/Cortana/Arbiter storyline, since Halo 3 closed up all of the hanging threads from the first trilogy.
I'd rather see Bungie make some new properties. Marathon still holds up decently well using Aleph One [sourceforge.net], and Marathon 2: Durandal has made it to XBLA. I'd love to see Marathon 1 and 3 on XBLA as well, but I don't really care for a remake of the original Marathon games in the Halo engine. It would be nice to see another trilogy set in the Marathon universe, but it would also be nice to see a second Chief/Cortana trilogy (not necessarily called Halo, as it wouldn't have to revolve around the Halo installations).
Re:mod that dude up (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Finally (Score:2, Informative)
Re:So does this mean... (Score:3, Informative)
Linky: http://macslash.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/05/174217 [macslash.org]
For those who don't want to read AFA here is the short version: More copies of Halo for Mac have been pirated than sold. Mostly out of spite from mac fan boys for the fact that originally Halo was to be a Mac first title (some say Mac-only, but...) before Microsoft bought Bungie and had it developed as the "killer app". I generally assumed that enough of geekdom around here knew the story...
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceballs:_The_TV_Series [wikipedia.org]