“In what may be nearly unbelievable news, word is circulating around the web that Bungie Studios’ days under Microsoft may be over. The initial news first started from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an outlet known for its Microsoft-related information, and has since grown legs as other media have followed up on the story,” Marcus Yam reports for Daily Tech.
“According to an email received by the Post-Intelligencer, Microsoft has released Bungie Studios from its ownership. The deal is apparently done, but Microsoft wishes to hold the public announcement until after October 6 for the protection of quarterly financial results,” Yam reports.
MacDailyNews Note: Microsoft’s first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2008 will be released on October 25, 2007. [Thanks, Fabio of setteB.IT]
Full article here.
An excerpt from the email via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
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). So as of today they are their own independent entity. They’ll probably make Halo 4 for Microsoft, however they are also free to create new intellectual properties for whatever system they want.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: Bungie Studios concentrated primarily on Macintosh games during its first nine years of existence. Halo’s public unveiling took place to thunderous applause during the Macworld Expo NYC July 21, 1999 keynote address by Apple’s then-interim-CEO Steve Jobs – we were there. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft announced that it had acquired Bungie Software. As a result, the Mac and PC versions were delayed, and the game was re-purposed for Microsoft’s Xbox, driving sales of Microsoft’s trouble-prone game consoles. Mac and Windows versions of Halo were eventually released two years later.