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Mac Gaming News - Bungie May Be Leaving Microsoft
by , 4:10 PM EDT, October 3rd, 2007
Erstwhile Mac game developer Bungie may be leaving Microsoft, according to reports on the Internet. The story was first reported on Monday by blogger 8bitjoystick on his Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog (those blogs are not edited or controlled by the Seattle PI), and was then confirmed by GameInformer.com. According to the reports, Bungie effectively bought itself back from Microsoft, and will be free to publish future games on whatever platform it wishes, though Microsoft will continue to own the Halo franchise.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that neither Microsoft nor Bungie are confirming nor denying the story. While that obviously means the story has not been confirmed officially, with the importance of the Halo franchise to Microsoft's Xbox's platform, many observers have noted it is the kind of report Big Redmond would want to squash if it were untrue.
At the heart of the story is the notion that Bungie developers are tired of making Halo, and want to move on to new projects. Both 8bitjoystick and GameInformer quote unnamed sources who cite this issue as part of why the Bungie folks wanted the divorce.
8bitjoystick's unnamed source said, "Apparently MS just wants Bungie to make Halo for the rest of their natural days, and Bungie doesn't like how MS is constantly trying to 'handle' everything they do; the way they market their games, the way they interact with their fans (basically the fact that they do appreciate their fans), and how stingy they are with the profits (comparable to the rest of the industry)."
Bungie had its beginning as a Mac game developer with the very popular Marathon, Marathon 2, and Marathon: Infinity first person shooter games. Bungie then went cross-platform with the successful Myth and Myth 2 games, and began work on Halo. Halo was first introduced to the world on a Mac at Madwort New York with Steve Jobs, but Mac game fans hearts were crushed when Microsoft immediately bought the company in order to secure Halo as the marquee title for its soon-to-be-launched Box gaming console.
With no one from Bungie officially commenting on the story, it isn't yet known if developing for the Mac is again in Bungie's future if they truly have split from Microsoft, but Mac gaming fans are watching the story with high hopes.
Observer Comments
Heh, Madwort in New York, thats either a nasty blemish or some kind of rapper, I would guess.
I think the guys on the HotSpot had a pretty good breakdown in today's episode, both of the story's "source" and the likelihood of its veracity. Bottom line is I wouldn't bet on MS letting the Bungie name go, maybe a bunch of the remaining "original" employees bolt the way Alex Seropian already did, but the company will likely remain under the MS "aegis" for the timebeing.
very interesting.. from articles i read (including the recent halo 3 cover story in WIRED), it sounds as if microsoft really fraked up the culture over at bungie, and sucked the life and fun out of the development of their games. just play halo 2 and halo 3-- while they may be *good* games, they just don't have the warmth and energy that the first one had.. this rumor doesn't surprise me at all, really.. let's just hope it's true..
QuoteGuest wrote:
dont have a x-box 360. I thought the story in halo 1&@ were as good as a novel. from what i have read about halo3, they took the story and flushed down toilet.
story in 3 was better than 2, if only because it's simpler. halo 2 bit off more than it could chew. halo 3 is almost like a halo 2 remake at times.
Can't count how many hours my Web development team wasted playing after-hours Marathon on the office computers...
http://marathon.bungie.org/
http://resurrection.bungie.org/
http://www.wideload.com
Perhaps Wide Load will pick up the name.
Story is confirmed. Microsoft has announced that they are parting ways with Bungie, their single most successful game studio. Apparently they remain a stake holder in Bungie, and are still Bungie's official game publisher.
So, which part of Microsoft do you think they'll spin off next?
I'm hoping Media Player.
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