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.

Bring back Marathon!

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Yea, like releasing more PC products.

[WarlockD]

All they do is make Halo and even then we wait a YEAR for the PC release.

There is no excuse for that other than to squeaze as much as they can in the 360 market. I just wonder if they will be given the same freedom as an "independent"

Halo DS?

[Darktyco]

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

So Bungie becomes like Polyphony

[I'm Don Giovanni]

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).

 

Yay!

[nerdacus]

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

Myth! Multiple platforms... something NEW

[hellfire]

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.

Looks like they want to return to the Mac

[dracvl]

"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?

[Danathar]

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

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

Re:Huh?

[Daetrin]

"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."

My understanding is that Microsoft has "first refusal" on the publishing rights for anything Bungie makes in the future. But Bungie will be able to work on whatever they want. Which means they could decide to make their next game for the Wii, and Microsoft would have the option to publish it. A Nintendo game with "Microsoft" in big letters on the box. How weird would that be?!?

Re:Can someone please explain Halo?

[anethema]

Thanks Osty. I was not recycling, I just hadn't seen or posted on the topic, so thought to ask.

Other than the well implemented vehicles point(Tribes 2? not sure if it came out before or after Halo), many of the other ones seem to be minor points of game mechanics. Many of the points listed were implemented in other (very popular) games.

Take counterstrike for example. There were simple throw grenade button mods which I'm sure most people used. It was a game that delivered a wonderful online experience. Unreal tournament was not the same type of game but also had many different game types and was one of the most fun online games out there.. Tribes had many of the boons you say long before halo.

The story was ok, but a masterful story, I guess I just didn't see it. Perhaps try half life or, newer, bioshock. Or even the theif games or system shock.

I also agree on the couch point, but I've been playing in 5.1 surround for years on the computer. And any gain added from the couch seems to be taken away by the fact that you're playing with a joystick rather than a single derivative device like a mouse.

Even with all this, it still seems halo is a mediocre game in comparison with other offerings, but since it was the best thing going on the console, it has a lot of hype behind it.

I hear what you're saying, different strokes for different folks, but even compared to other current console games, halo 3 seems dated and mid-level. (gears of war, et al)

I kind of got more into this than I wanted to I think. Basically it comes down to, I played halo on the computer, and it did not seem to stack up to other games on the computer in any meaningful way. Is it different in the console arena? That is basically what I'm asking.

Re:I know...

[Locutus]

I don't believe Microsoft will get out of the console/gaming market any time soon. There is just too much of a threat that the console become the hub of peoples home computing use they can't let that happen. They were/are willing to lose billions just on a tiny handheld OS jut to kill off the competition( Palm ) so that the handheld doesn't leave Windows out of the picture. There are many other examples of Microsoft spending/losing/investing/whatever millions just to prevent the competition from gaining or growing.

So, IMO, there is no way Microsoft will walk away from the console gaming market. IMO, they bought Bungie and other developers to force games out for the Xbox. They probably told Bungie they'd be independent and the fools believed them. Bungie developers and management want out of Microsoft or they'll all leave Microsoft with just a name and no track forward. Microsoft negotiated a way to keep them making certain games for the Xbox in the future an to revenues from those games. Atleast that is how I see it playing out from years of insight on how Microsoft does businesses.

LoB