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Bungie Emancipated

[October 05, 2007, 12:02 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Microsoft announces their relationship with Bungie has "evolved," giving provenance to rumors that such changes were in the works (story), so kudos to 8Bit Joystick for their scoop. Word is Bungie will regain their independence, Microsoft Game Studios will continue to hold equity in both Bungie and the Halo series, and that Bungie will get to work on new projects, though it sounds like they will continue to contribute to the Halo series and will continue to emphasize Microsoft's platforms:

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of the Halo franchise, to embark on a path to become an independent company. 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.

The critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive “Halo 3” achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3” is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

“Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in ‘Halo’ becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we 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.”

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “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.”

Bungie Studios will remain in its current location in Kirkland, Wash.

Bungie.net's Inside Bungie News has more from Bungie on all this.

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61.	No subject	Oct 10, 2007, 18:17	Migglesworth, Mig, Beaner-man,Mario, Manuel...
	there is no Originality nowadays. You might feel like you got something new, but it's probably been done. The way you APPLY those elements into a game is what makes it feel original, new, and refreshing.

60.	No subject	Oct 10, 2007, 15:51	nightfend
	I was about to say the same thing...Halo rings are MUCH MUCH smaller than the Ringworld in Larry Niven's novels. Halo rings do not surround a star. For a Halo structure to surround a star, it would have to have been a ring the distance of the orbit of a planet like Earth. If that were the case, you could not see the whole ring at once. At least not with human eyes. It would be too large and would simply fade off into the distance in either direction. So while the concepts have similarities, they are not really the same thing. Though I will admit, my first thought when playing the original Halo game was of Ringworld.

59.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 9, 2007, 12:50	Dagok
	STFU, GTFO, GROW THE FUCK UP! You first. ---------------------------------------------------- Currently fragging in Team Fortress 2, Crysis, STALKER, Dark Messiah Join the "Blues News" Steam Community Group.

58.	No subject	Oct 8, 2007, 12:41	xXBatmanXx
	e-penis' grow by the post in here I guess. Rev. Norb: I'd just like to say that four for a dollar Tijuana tacos seemed like a good idea at the time. Please pass the toilet paper.

57.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 7, 2007, 16:50	kxmode
	I have 34 patents, and 3 IPs. 2 homes, 4 cars, and more power than you'll ever have in any industry. And yet, you're all quibbling like you're little kiddies. Looks like we found DEREK SMART's other Blues News account... ----- http://www.myspace.com/kxmode "BioShock RMX" track posted

56.	No subject	Oct 6, 2007, 19:24	zirik
	its like theres a switch that goes haywire in his brain. where did all that rant come from? was that supposed to scare anyone into submission?

55.	No subject	Oct 6, 2007, 12:14	Trainwreck
	I have 34 patents, and 3 IPs. 2 homes, 4 cars, and more power than you'll ever have in any industry. And yet, you're all quibbling like you're little kiddies. Wow, you've impressed exactly no one here! Good job.

54.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 6, 2007, 11:21	Bone43
	I have 34 patents, and 3 IPs. 2 homes, 4 cars, and more power than you'll ever have in any industry. And yet, you're all quibbling like you're little kiddies. Huh?

53.	No subject	Oct 6, 2007, 09:18	Trainwreck
	I'm just waiting for the Microsoft lawyers to announce that Larry Niven is suing them for $250 Million Dollars for plagiarism of intellectual content in a novel. Larry Niven wrote about the Halo artifacts back in his RingWorld novel in 1970; almost 40 years ago. The concept of a ring shaped world falls under the larger classification of Dyson Spheres; insanely complex superstructures of an almost inconceivable size. The typical Dyson Sphere is a large sphere entirely encasing a star for the purpose of harnessing all or nearly all of the energy output of that star. Larry Niven's Ringworld (if I recall correctly) surrounded a star completely but was not a full Dyson Sphere. It's actually quite different from the Halo worlds in Halo which, while quite huge, are very much smaller than the megastructures imagined by Niven. The point of all this is that these structures were actually defined in science by Freeman Dyson in 1959, and originally proposed in a science fiction novel, Star Maker, in 1937. Many works of fiction (from Ringworld to Star Trek to Halo) have used these concepts prior to Halo, and since Halo's is different from Niven's Ringworld, the idea that he could actually have grounds for legal recourse is about as laughable as thinking Arthur C Clarke can sue Orson Scott Card for featuring a space station in Ender's Game, while the former featured one in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Halo's story is mostly mediocre sci fi at best, but the Halo worlds themselves - and their purpose - is actually fairly refreshing in a very stale genre. This message was edited at Oct 6, 09:19. This message was edited at Oct 6, 09:20.

52.	No subject	Oct 6, 2007, 08:37	Mr. Tact
	Zep, while Ringworld is excellent sci-fi, I'm not sure it's an indication that Larry Niven an Einstien wasting his time writing fiction. And clearly, reading it doesn't make you (or anyone else) a genius either. Although I suspect Larry Niven is smart enough to not waste his time and money suing Mircosoft. Edits: Damn fingers, it's too early in the morning to be typing. ----- Truth is brutal. Prepare for pain. This message was edited at Oct 6, 08:37. This message was edited at Oct 6, 08:38.

51.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 6, 2007, 05:29	Zephalephelah
	Sounds like yu're a nub. Want to ly me down on the mutha fuckin couch bitch? Cause I'll eat you're fucking brain outta your head while you think you're believin you're figuring me out. You stupid pathetic little fuck. The difference between me and you is that I really did jump off roofs and I really did fight two guys bigger than me at once, and often fought bigger guys, hell anyone, and I also won in chess, wrestling, basketball and all intellectual or both intellectuall and physical games against my "PEERS" who ended up being as useless and stupid as most of you. I have 34 patents, and 3 IPs. 2 homes, 4 cars, and more power than you'll ever have in any industry. And yet, you're all quibbling like you're little kiddies. STFU, GTFO, GROW THE FUCK UP!

50.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 6, 2007, 02:35	kxmode
	I'm just waiting for the Microsoft lawyers to announce that Larry Niven is suing them for $250 Million Dollars for plagiarism of intellectual content in a novel. Larry Niven wrote about the Halo artifacts back in his RingWorld novel in 1970; almost 40 years ago. It was one of my favorite books growing up because of the insane amount of creativity. Sounds like you want to beat up Microsoft via a proxy battle with Larry Niven. ----- http://www.myspace.com/kxmode "BioShock RMX" track posted

49.	Re: No subject	Oct 6, 2007, 01:52	Jerykk
	which then released Rebel without a Pulse using the Halo engine! I actually thought Stubbs was a lot better than Halo...

48.	Re: The REAL reason	Oct 6, 2007, 00:52	Cabezone
	Ringworld had some interesting ideas, but it wasn't great storytelling. This message was edited at Oct 6, 00:53.

47.	The REAL reason	Oct 6, 2007, 00:26	Zephalephelah
	I'm just waiting for the Microsoft lawyers to announce that Larry Niven is suing them for $250 Million Dollars for plagiarism of intellectual content in a novel. Larry Niven wrote about the Halo artifacts back in his RingWorld novel in 1970; almost 40 years ago. It was one of my favorite books growing up because of the insane amount of creativity. Larry Niven's Ringworld might not have been such a hit with fantasy fiction fans as the classic Lord of the Rings, but Larry Niven did conceive of the Halo World and described it, along with the puppeteers, and my favorite, the person picked because of their luckiness. That's fucking brilliant when you read it and really shows that this guy is a fantastic creative mind who far exceeds most of all the pathetic thoughtless lifeforms on this planet. When he dreams, he thinks better than you. When he has a hangover, he thinks better than you. When he's sick with the flu, he's still better than you. Larry makes you look so stupid that even certified retards get it that you're an idiot. The sad thing is that probably 20 people will see this post and read it. Of them, 2 will look up the book. 1 of them will read it. That means every 19 of 20 people on bluesnews are morons. But I still think it would be funny if Larry Niven waited until now to sue Microsoft for plagiarism in an electronic story. It would be new and would automatically get 1/20th of all the halo addicts to read his book too. Clever!

46.	Re: No subject	Oct 5, 2007, 22:31	kxmode
	Their guilt lies in making games that are mediocre to begin with Compared to PC FPS titles yes. But for the 360 crowd it's Rapture (apologies to BioShock). I'm not going to say anything against Halo 3 because all of my 360 friends who have a copy of Halo 3 says it's incredible. I'm not exactly gung-ho for Halo 3 but who am I to argue with their glowing reviews? ----- http://www.myspace.com/kxmode "BioShock RMX" track posted

45.	Re: No subject	Oct 5, 2007, 22:07	Mr. Tact
	Um, Tact, Oni and been finished and Halo had been accouned long before Microsoft purchased them. shrug Maybe, maybe not. Accounting is a strange science. Either way, I have no doubt that the "we knew we made a mistake 6 months after the deal was done" was accurate. When you are a small company (read as a couple hundred employees at most) and you are bought by a large company -- the only way it's good is if you are going to take the money and leave. ----- Truth is brutal. Prepare for pain.

44.	Re: No subject	Oct 5, 2007, 21:44	Fion
	Their guilt lies in making games that are mediocre to begin with. QFT.

43.	Emancipation	Oct 5, 2007, 21:44	kxmode
	What was said "This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games," What was meant "We'll let out shitty interns make future Halos." I deal with this at work all the time. Basically you get to a point where you're not creative anymore. You're just a tool regurgitating out shit after shit with no end in sight. The only way creativity happens is you either demand it or you leave the company. I'm thinking the later for me... soon. ----- http://www.myspace.com/kxmode "BioShock RMX" track posted (9/21) "Fallout" track posted (9/20)

42.	Re: No subject	Oct 5, 2007, 20:09	Smoove
	Did anyone notice that Activision bought Bizarre? I know they were independent, but in recent years they've been effectively MS exclusive. It's interesting to me that MS has lost both them and Bungie in a matter of days. Either MS has something up their sleeves, or they've lost two powerful exclusive franchises for seemingly no reason.

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