Possibility of a Bungie/Microsoft break-up?

[blurredvision]

That seems to be the rumor of the moment. Just posting what I've read, I don't know if there's any truth to it or not.

http://www.gameinformer.com/Ne...07.1002.1438.22348.htm

"Our source stated that Bungie is ?tired of Making Halo, and didn?t want to do future Halo games.? For an unstated, but significant amount of money, Bungie shareholders bought the studio name back from Microsoft. Our source also revealed that even though Microsoft will retain the rights to Halo, Microsoft also has ?the right of first refusal on future games.? This means that Microsoft has the first shot at publishing Bungie?s future titles. How this will come into play if Bungie decides they want future game X to appear on the PlayStation 3 and Wii alongside an Xbox 360 release will make things quite interesting."

http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor...tion-rumors-305825.php

Those rumors surrounding a Bungie departure from Microsoft sure sound fishy, so we got in touch with some folks who might know a thing or two about it. We were hoping for either a "Yes, it's true. You'll find the details of the settlement in the attached PDF" or "Of course it's not true. Don't be ridiculous." Instead we got a double barrel blast of non-confirmation.

The response from a Bungie source? "Talk to your Edelman rep."

The response from Edelman, Microsoft's PR firm? "There's been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3."

In the meantime, we continue to get e-mails with friend of a friend sourced factoids and ones with none too subtle hints on the matter. We're drowning in the winking emoticons!

As I wrote earlier, it sounds suspect?hence the rumor tag?but with the closing of FASA Studio, the developer behind Shadowrun, and the acquisition of Project Gotham Racing developer Bizarre Creations by Activision, yet another ripple in the Microsoft Game Studios pool of insanity wouldn't forcibly knock our socks off at this point.

http://www.xboxcircle.com/xbox...nd-microsoft-to-split/

Here?s one rumor you want to completely ignore, but for the sake of news we feel obligated to report it to our readers. Over the last 24 hours reports have been popping up everywhere with the news that Bungie and Microsoft would be ending their relationship and splitting up. Microsoft purchased Bungie Studios back in 2000, and in return Bungie delivered an incredible franchise in Halo.

The source that started the rumor claims that Microsoft is allowing Bungie to become an independant but keep the rights to the Halo franchise. The reason for the claimed split? Microsoft rushed Bungie to release Halo 3. Bizarre Creations, now owned by Activision, claimed that Microsoft put pressure on the studio to get Project Gotham Racing 3 out as a launch title.

It seems to be making the rounds pretty quickly this evening. It would definitely be interesting, if true, although it sounds like at this point that Microsoft has covered their bases (again, if true).

 

[Queasy]

Have to wait and see what happens but I wouldn't be surprised to see members of the Bungie team leave to form their own companies. It isn't like it would be the first time that happened. Members of Bungie left after Halo 1 and Halo 2 to form their own companies.

And MS pressuring Bizarre and Bungie to get big name games out? Oh no...that's never happened in the history of game development either.

 

[Jules]

We will see.

 

[michaels]

Sony bought them out, new IP exclusive

 

[thawolfman]

Yeah should be interesting to see how this all plays out...

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: michaels
Sony bought them out, new IP exclusive

Sony doesn't buy exclusives.

 

[herkulease]

I call BS.

Bungie Shareholders? There are no such things. they have shares in nothing, except maybe microsoft.

Microsoft might be spining them off to develop titles for others and majority of team members maybe leaving. Happened with Blizzard and Diablo team. But I highly doubt Bungie name will be let go so easily.

Are they tired of Halo? possibly. But it could also be a game of chicken seeing how much money halo 3 made, someone probably wants a bit more money.

 

[RandomFool]

Maybe this will mean we'll get a new Myth game.

 

[darkswordsman17]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/s...p&tag=newstop;title;13

As you can see, the original source is basically just some guy making crap up online, but somehow it seems like very few of the "journalists" covering this are keen on checking out their source. Now I wouldn't be surprised to see Bungie splitting into a few different groups, maybe with some leaving to form their own or work somewhere else. They built up a large team on Halo 2 and Halo 3, so it would make sense that they would want to trim it back down.

 

[Skacer]

Does this mean Myth can come back from the dead?!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: herkulease
I call BS.

Bungie Shareholders? There are no such things. they have shares in nothing, except maybe microsoft.

Microsoft might be spining them off to develop titles for others and majority of team members maybe leaving. Happened with Blizzard and Diablo team. But I highly doubt Bungie name will be let go so easily.

Are they tired of Halo? possibly. But it could also be a game of chicken seeing how much money halo 3 made, someone probably wants a bit more money.

I agree with your points. Also, I would imagine that the employees of Microsoft's Bungie studio have signed noncompetitive agreements as well. The only way that I could see this happening is if a private equities group or another company "bought the company name" from Microsoft.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: RandomFool
Maybe this will mean we'll get a new Myth game.

Originally posted by: Skacer
Does this mean Myth can come back from the dead?!

New MMORPG - World of Myth!

 

[EvilComputer92]

This are interesting rumors indeed, even more so if they turn out to be true. I doubt Microsoft will let go of Bungie so easily. I think the thing here is Bungie is tired of the Halo franchise and Microsoft wants to keep milking it.

 

[Piuc2020]

Bungie should split from Microsoft and make Marathon 4, exclusively for Mac and PC.

Now that would probably be game of the century, not the overrated held-back game the Halo franchise is.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

It is starting to sound like it actually happened. I just saw something on Daily Tech. Supposedly Microsoft still retains right of first refusal for awhile.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
It is starting to sound like it actually happened. I just saw something on Daily Tech. Supposedly Microsoft still retains right of first refusal for awhile.

DailyTech just reported the same Seattle Post-Intelligencer reader blog post mentioned above.

 

[randay]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: RandomFool
Maybe this will mean we'll get a new Myth game.

Originally posted by: Skacer
Does this mean Myth can come back from the dead?!

New MMORPG - World of Myth!

dont even joke!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If true, it was probably just someone exercising a contract option, predicated on meeting stated performance goals or other criteria.