Microsoft and Bungie Call it Quits

Details of the companies' new relationship.

There have been rumours over the past week saying that Microsoft and Bungie, the creator of the best-selling Halo franchise, were parting ways. It seemed inevitable that the rumours would be denied, but they weren't. Bungie and Microsoft are indeed breaking up.

Microsoft issued a statement on Friday laying out how the relationship will work going ahead. Basically, Microsoft will have first dibs on any Halo games Bungie wants to make, and it will have the right to make any other Halo games it wants to, as it is already doing in Halo Wars and its project with Lord of the Rings creator Peter Jackson. In return, Bungie gets to go it alone and develop new ideas.

"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," Microsoft's Shane Kim said in a statement.

Bungie studio head Harold Ryan called the move an "evolution of our relationship with Microsoft [that] will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games."

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Ryan said that Bungie will still be making games for the Xbox 360 (without saying that they would be only for the console) and said the studio and Microsoft would continue their affiliation through Halo and beyond.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo