Bungie No longer owned by Microsoft

I just read it on another site... Good for bungie, they can focus on better games now.
 
It's not exactly confirmed yet. Although, I must admit, the complete lack of comment by Microsoft and Bungie on an otherwise absurd rumor is telling.
 
I can understand them wanting to make other games than Halo. Who knows how that will work out, but it's better for Microsoft to work out a deal with them instead of facing the possibility of having the staff jump ship.
 
erwos said:
It's not exactly confirmed yet. Although, I must admit, the complete lack of comment by Microsoft and Bungie on an otherwise absurd rumor is telling.
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Lack of comment means nothing, Microsoft has never commented on rumors....
 
I feel it could be a good thing as long as they don't feel put off by Microsoft and jump ship as a Xbox360 developer house.
 
IndyJoe said:
I feel it could be a good thing as long as they don't feel put off by Microsoft and jump ship as a Xbox360 developer house.
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I think Microsoft did not want a repeat of Rare with top people leaving the company so they are trying to find a way to appease Bungie but keep them developing for the 360. My guess is that Bungie's people put themselves in a better bargaining position, then called Microsoft to have a talk.
 
erwos said:
It's not exactly confirmed yet. Although, I must admit, the complete lack of comment by Microsoft and Bungie on an otherwise absurd rumor is telling.
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From what I've read, Microsoft will be making an official announcement around Oct. 12.
 
I heard they were mad since they felt like they were controlled too much on what they could and could not do. They were forced to make the halo trilogy rather than create other new games most likely which caused them to get upset after awhile. Supressing creativity ;)
 
Conker said:
I heard they were mad since they felt like they were controlled too much on what they could and could not do. They were forced to make the halo trilogy rather than create other new games most likely which caused them to get upset after awhile. Supressing creativity ;)
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Yeah, you can totally tell they hated making Halo 3. All the extra easter eggs for the fans, having the cast of Firefly in for voices of the Marines, the skull unlocks, the big thank-you's to the fans at the end, the extra making-of dvd's... man, they sure were mad. :rolleyes: It's obvious that this was a labor of love for a lot of the folks at Bungie.

This whole article is based off of a guy who has a friend who works at Bungie. Some of it is expressly untrue, such as their email addresses no longer being valid. There seems to be some ring of truth through it all, as MS and Bungie have been saying some weird things, but seriously... take this all with a grain of salt.
 
Wouldn't it be funny if Sony's big Oct 12th announcement was the acquisition of Bungie.

Regardless, Im hoping this gives a chance to see some more out of bungie other than just FPS (though I wouldnt mind a new marathon game).
 
Conker said:
I heard they were mad since they felt like they were controlled too much on what they could and could not do. They were forced to make the halo trilogy rather than create other new games most likely which caused them to get upset after awhile. Supressing creativity ;)
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You do realize that Halo is a Bungie creation right? They probably realize that MS taking it over made them all rich....not many standalone pc games (which Halo was originally) have that kind of success.
 
Naldo said:
Wouldn't it be funny if Sony's big Oct 12th announcement was the acquisition of Bungie.

Regardless, Im hoping this gives a chance to see some more out of bungie other than just FPS (though I wouldnt mind a new marathon game).
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They have plenty of money now to do their own thing...I doubt they would want to sell out again any time soon.
 
joemama said:
You do realize that Halo is a Bungie creation right? They probably realize that MS taking it over made them all rich....not many standalone pc games (which Halo was originally) have that kind of success.
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Actually, Halo was originally a Mac game like the Marathon games before MS bought Bungie 1 year before the release date.

I don't think Bungie's success was dependent on MS at all. The acquisition put Halo onto a new runner-up console beneath the other 2 big and established companies. The Xbox's future was far from guarenteed at that point, and Halo's massive success, timing, and exclusivity definitely had an effect on the performance of the Xbox. Halo and Halo 2 were the "killer apps" for the Xbox.
 
kelbear said:
Actually, Halo was originally a Mac game like the Marathon games before MS bought Bungie 1 year before the release date.

I don't think Bungie's success was dependent on MS at all. The acquisition put Halo onto a new runner-up console beneath the other 2 big and established companies. The Xbox's future was far from guarenteed at that point, and Halo's massive success, timing, and exclusivity definitely had an effect on the performance of the Xbox. Halo and Halo 2 were the "killer apps" for the Xbox.
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What I mean is that Halo (for pc/Mac) may have been well recieved and sold pretty well (and even ported to consoles)...but nowhere near the popularity it has today. Bungie alone doesn't have near MS's money for marketing and any publisher wouldn't have spent mega-millions to market an unproven franchise.
 
The18thLetter said:
Bungie must come to PS3 and make Oni 2!!! :D
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There are a few hurdles to get over before that happens:

1. If the rumor is true, MS is not going to allow Bungie to publish anything on PS3
2. Bungie does not own the Oni IP

The second one is particularly difficult to get over.
 
From Wikipedia: Right of first refusal (ROFR) is a contractual right granted by the owner of something, that gives the holder of the right an option to enter a business transaction with the owner according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter that transaction with a third party.

Basically in layman terms, if Bungie makes anything, Microsoft can publish the title for Xbox 360/PC exclusively. It means if Bungie makes something insanely awesome, Microsoft can make sure Sony/Nintendo can't offer it on their consoles. Nothing has really changed there.

But it also means that if Microsoft doesn't want it, they can go elsewhere to get their games published for any system. That's the new part.

It makes it so that Microsoft still keeps its exclusives from the megastudio but gives creative freedom to the studio to make things even if Microsoft doesn't want them.

You won't be seeing Halo 4 on PS3. You likely won't see much if anything from Bungie on PS3 at this point. The impact of such would make PS4 or Wii2 possible. At this point I would imagine Bungie has far too many roots on the 360 platform to make it profitable to explore much beyond that.

Then again, when you look at Halo DS, if you believe it, it could mean Bungie really does break out from Microsofts shadow and goes balls out on making games multiplatform. (But, from all the rumor reports, Microsoft will retain all rights to the Halo brand, so Halo DS is almost certainly never going to happen.)
 
I think its a great move for both companies. MS got what they want out of bungie which is pushing the xbox name brand in homes, and bungie get two great things: paid, and recognition. Master chief wouldnt be master chief if it was on a mac. We all know that MS outstanding advertising made halo as large as what it is today, if not, it would be just a good game on a under appreciated OS. Now, i would like to see what can they do now since the "fight" is over, by both parties. Also the great move by MS is that they have first dibs on anything they make, preventing anything revolutionary to go to the competitors.
 
kelbear said:
Actually, Halo was originally a Mac game like the Marathon games before MS bought Bungie 1 year before the release date.

I don't think Bungie's success was dependent on MS at all. The acquisition put Halo onto a new runner-up console beneath the other 2 big and established companies. The Xbox's future was far from guarenteed at that point, and Halo's massive success, timing, and exclusivity definitely had an effect on the performance of the Xbox. Halo and Halo 2 were the "killer apps" for the Xbox.
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a mac game MADE by bungie. Who made marathon.
 
Whats the point of them "leaving" microsoft if the only thing they will be able to make is games for microsoft? That doesn't really make much sense to me. Of course if they make a good game microsoft will want it, and if they make a shit game nobody else is going to want it.
 
Naldo said:
Whats the point of them "leaving" microsoft if the only thing they will be able to make is games for microsoft? That doesn't really make much sense to me. Of course if they make a good game microsoft will want it, and if they make a shit game nobody else is going to want it.
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It allows them to stop making Halo games, at least for awhile. Bungie isn't a huge studio; they can't take on Halo and another huge franchise at the same time. It's pretty obvious that they would like to work on other IP now. I think Bungie is happy making games for the 360, just not Halo. I haven't read anything about any kind of strife between them and MS whatsoever.
 
Naldo said:
Whats the point of them "leaving" microsoft if the only thing they will be able to make is games for microsoft? That doesn't really make much sense to me. Of course if they make a good game microsoft will want it, and if they make a shit game nobody else is going to want it.
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"Roughly, it means that if Bungie begins developing a game, MS has the right to declare themselves publisher of said game. If MS declines, the game can go to open market. "

If RocketPig's explanation above is correct, then that means Bungie gets to make whatever they want. MS would get to decide if it wants to be the publisher, but even if MS doesn't, Bungie can find another publisher.

As a comparison, Bioshock was rejected several times before 2K games picked them up.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169973

So if this is the case then their games wouldn't live and die on MS's approval of the project.
 
kelbear said:
They finally made an announcement:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071005/aqf020a.html?.v=2

For those who want a brush-up on what they mean by equity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownership_equity

It looks like a confirmation that Bungie will have more freedom to decide its own projects while still working for MS
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All in all, I think its a good thing for gamers. Now Bungie is more likely to stay together and not just burn out on making Halo games. We'll get to see some new stuff from them and if they do make another Halo game, it will most likely be made by the same team, as opposed to a hollow Bungie made of replacements after the talent leaves.
 
Something tells me they already have another game up their sleeve....I bet it will be good too..I like these Bungie guys.
 
Well, I sure was wrong. Turns out it's true. Hopefully they have something else in the pipe they've already started working on. Bungie makes great games because they love gaming. Here's to hoping that continues.
 
I thought right of first refusal only gave MicroSoft the first shot any anything developed by Bungie. It does not let them declare themselves anything. They still have to buy the property ro rights of publication from Bungie. That means to me that Bungie is the one that can set "fair" market value on any title and then present it to MicroSoft. If Bungie feels that a Halo4 would generate more money multi-platform they can set the value higher than MS may want to pay. Take the Halo-DS game as an example. They create a game that will only work on the Nintendo DS. They then offer it to MS who can then either refuse to buy it, and let Bungie release it for the handheld. Or buy it and release it themselves for a system that they are not really in competition with. Or buy it and let bungie Bank roll a bunch o money for a game that will never see the light of day.
 
MartinX said:
I also would like to see an ONI 2 or even just a next gen remake, maybe with a slightly higher density.
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Thank god I'm not the only one! I know Oni got pummeled more or less, but I always thought it was a fantastic game. I would even go so far as saying it's one of my top 10 favorites.
 
Crighton said:
I thought right of first refusal only gave MicroSoft the first shot any anything developed by Bungie. It does not let them declare themselves anything. They still have to buy the property ro rights of publication from Bungie. That means to me that Bungie is the one that can set "fair" market value on any title and then present it to MicroSoft. If Bungie feels that a Halo4 would generate more money multi-platform they can set the value higher than MS may want to pay. Take the Halo-DS game as an example. They create a game that will only work on the Nintendo DS. They then offer it to MS who can then either refuse to buy it, and let Bungie release it for the handheld. Or buy it and release it themselves for a system that they are not really in competition with. Or buy it and let bungie Bank roll a bunch o money for a game that will never see the light of day.
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Microsoft owns the IP for Halo, you won't see it going anywhere where they don't want it to go.
 
Defective said:
Microsoft owns the IP for Halo, you won't see it going anywhere where they don't want it to go.
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Was that in the agreement? Does Bungie forfeit all Intellectual Properties to MS that were in Development at the time of MicroSoft's ownership? This is not meant as a flame I am actually curious if this is fact.
 
Crighton said:
Was that in the agreement? Does Bungie forfeit all Intellectual Properties to MS that were in Development at the time of MicroSoft's ownership? This is not meant as a flame I am actually curious if this is fact.
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"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."

He's using the possessive on Halo with regard to investing in it, and also notes other partners as possible sources.

Bungie lost Oni when Bungie West was consolidated into the main Bungie body and absorbed by MS. Take Two acquired the Oni rights as their equity in the dissolution since they owned a portion of the company.

Seeing as how MS completely owned Bungie during the making of Halo, it looks like MS gets to keep Halo as Bungie pulls away, because I don't think the employees in Bungie can buy that off of MS's hands.
 
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