Latest Headlines

Bungie Has Droped The Microsoft Partnership .. Its Now Official

Well NOW its official the Microsoft / Bungie partnership is no more. I hope to see some great games come out of the New Bungie Studios in the coming years.

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 in Europe on Wednesday, Sept. 26, “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.”

Tags: bungie studios, Halo-3, microsoft, publisher, Xbox

Related Posts:

• October 3, 2007 -- Rumor: Bungie IS Dropping Microsoft Like a Hot Potato
• September 21, 2007 -- No Waiting at 7-Eleven For Halo 3
• September 12, 2007 -- 6 New Halo 3 ScreenShots
• March 14, 2008 -- Xbox360 and Blu-Ray? Not any time soon!
• December 10, 2007 -- Microsoft And US Army To Sponsor Halo 3 Tournament