The rumors of Bungie leaving Microsoft have been confirmed officially by Microsoft in a press release this morning.
It looks as thought Bungie wants to return to it’s independent roots while Microsoft will still continue to have an equity interest in Bungie and will continue to publish any Halo franchise properties as well as new Bungie IPs under the Microsoft Game Studios label.
Microsoft will continue to evolve the Halo franchise with Bungie as well as other developers such as Ensamble Studios who are working on Halo Wars and Peter Jackson who is working on an interactive series within the Halo universe.
Bungie will continue to focus on developing for the Microsoft gaming platform and will remain in their converted Hardware Superstore studio located in Kirkland, Washington.
Halo 3 in its first week of sales has broken $300 million, a record for the entertainment industry as a whole, not just the video game segment. Halo 3 helped Microsoft beat the Wii in console sales for the month for the first time since the Wii’s launch ! Halo 3 has also had a huge impact on the Japanese video game sales charts where it finished number one in recent sales numbers, a huge victory for Microsoft.
Press Release:
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® 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.
