More Bungie-MS rumor: TeamXbox's sources say it's "more complex"

By now, you must have heard the rumor of Bungie leaving Microsoft that started at 8Bit Joystick.com. Since then, Game Informer has reported that their own source stated "for an unstated, but significant amount of money, Bungie shareholders bought the studio name back from Microsoft."

Now, TeamXbox has also reported that they have sources, and that there is indeed something "more complex" going on between Microsoft and Bungie. Here's what TeamXbox said:

"We can't provide further info now (we'd put our sources in trouble) but we're going to tell you that it is more complex than simply Bungie leaving Microsoft or Microsoft letting Bungie go.

There will be an official announcement this week, definitely before October 12th..."

[risk]

october 12th...sony big bang announcement???

[marinelife9]

I noticed that too.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Idiots with no games

good luck with that "big bang" Halo on PS3 fantasy, you know I heard a rumor about Killzone 2 and God of War going to the 360.

[Antiomo]

Maybe its just company politics, and the core individuals of bungie are leaving. I doubt the bungie name will leave MS.

[sonarus]

dnt knw wat the big deal is. Sure they will still only make games for msoft. They seem like a bunch of talented devs would be nice to see them come up with something aside from Halo.

[unlimited]

If Bungie is no longer with Microsoft they can make games on the Wii or PS3.. I feel like Microsoft just wants them to make Halo for the rest of their life.. And Bungie is getting tired of it..They want to move on but Microsoft is in their way..

[kn]

Remember, Microsoft OWNS Bungie. If Bungie wants to go their seperate ways, that's fine, but they will end up having to do it with Microsoft's consent and on those terms. You can bet, at a minimum, those terms won't include Halo IP on a Sony console. If it does, I'll eat my hat, but that simply isn't going to happen. Interestingly, I don't think Sony fans really WANT the Halo series any more than Xbox fans WANT MGS4 for instance. It's more of a joy to see the competition take a hit rather than joy of getting access to another IP. Regardless, The next couple of weeks are going to be interesting.

[power091999]

Im really confused as to what is bringing this whole thing on.

Bungie, and MS are obviously sucessful with each other. I can't see where any of this may be going.

It may have something to do with "Big Bang", but I really don't think any of this really involves Sony.

The next week is going to be interesting I think.

[bung tickler]

whats going to happen is M$ is gonna let bungie be more independant that they are now, since bungie did such a good job making them millions of $$$ M$ is gonna let them do the little side games they want to do and all they have to do is ask M$ if they want to publish them is M$ says no theyt can go get another publisher instead of the project dying a sad death like is the current situation.

anyways thats my guess based on the news, M$ will still have like 51% say in everything but it will be slightly more open for the devs.

[mighty_douche]

i think your confussing speculation and rumour for news my friend.

[rubarb23]

this is getting boring. i think everyone is making much more out of this than what it will turn out to be. i just hope ms or bungie release some sort of statement to put an end to this crap.

[Douchebaggery]

i hope MS gives Bungie the freedom to do whatever the f*ck they want for their next project if it's something Halo related great but i hope they take a chance and do something totally out of their comfort zone like Insomniac did with Resistance

[mighty_douche]

last time bungie were given free raign they produced HALO, which IMO is still the best of the 3.
once your exclusive having a huge success like halo can be the developers down fall, in the case of bungie they are forced to live under bills iron thumb and over shadowed by the M$ logo.

[mighty_douche]

ummm when is sony's big annoucement again????

edit: how does someone disagree with a question?!?! kids eh...

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

lol.

[xionpunk]

wow so vague, i wonder whats so complicated...maybe MS made the Bungie devs "disappear" after they said they didnt want another Halo. That would make things hard to explain...

[zerolinkgannon]

Bungie: umm..M$ I was thinking...maybe we can do something other than halo maybe?..

M$: What is this nonsense you speak of?! Get back to work and begin preparations for world domination with Halo 4! Die sony Die!! -evil laughter-

Bungie: No...-feeling scared-

M$: what the hell did you just say?!

Bungie: I..I said no.. Im tired of this never ending war.
and thus we are here today with this news.

[rubarb23]

dude, that was a good one, bubble for you.

[J@D]

I'm completely sure that Bungie want to try out another genres apart from Shooters and that's the reason of this broke-up between Micro and Bun.

There not a OFFCIAL* confirmation yet... so maybe it's just a rumor or maybe its a true deal. Why not announce it already.

[The BS Police]

The fact is that Bungie have stated many times that Microsoft has been good to them, and the only thing that they ask is for them to pick a ship/release date and stick with it.

[Skynetone]

but in fairness i dont like to see exclusive brands changing platforms forcing fans to buy a ps3

[Jdoki]

I just can't see Microsoft letting Bungie go... after all, they OWN Bungie. Perhaps the 'more complex' issue is that senior devs are unwilling to stick with Halo and threatening to move on, which would essentially make Bungie worthless again.

So perhaps Bungie are given more leeway, but still watched over by MS. Perhaps Bungie are free to make games (Myth 3 please) for other platforms...

If Bungie become independent (shareholder buyout), but with some sort of first refusal clause for MS, it's a win/win situation for MS - they no longer have to fund Bungie but still get first refusal of any game. As MS own Halo, it's not like Halo 4 will suddenly become a Sony exclusive, but what could happen is Bungie create another great, original IP, and MS can jump on that.

I doubt the PS3 would get any Bungie love, but there seems to be a move towards the DS by MS, which is a smart move to raise awareness of the Xbox brand in Japan (I'm thinking heavily MS funded studios like Mistwalker and Rare making DS games). Bungie creating games for the DS based on Microsoft IP would be great.

If Bungie are 'forced' to make Halo 4, we're looking at 2-3 years development time even if they use the same game engine, but what would Halo 4 add (except more money to the MS bacnk balance)? We've now had, after two years, arguably the biggest 360 release (in terms of fanfare, media attention, and units shifted - if not quality). Would Halo 4 match the levels of craziness Halo 3 did? Would it be better to see Halo 4 on the next Xbox to really give it a huge kickstart?

It seems much more likely that MS would want plenty of DLC from Bungie for Halo 3 - something they could commission as and when they needed it, and possibly engage Bungie to create Halo 4 later in the 360's lifecycle when Bungie are less Halo fatigued or as a luanch title for the Xbox720.

[otherZinc]

This wouldnt be a good move at all. Im a big HALO fan, the games are great but if they made games for all consoles, I may lose interest in the series.

I spent more than $400 on HALO 3 merchandize the week of sept. 25: 2 copies of LEGENDARY, T-shirts, wrist-bans, key chains, ect... This wouldnt be the same if they left M$.

Im a traditionalist, I love for things to stay the same because with each iteration that product that the same team makes usually gets better. This is the case with the greatest series of all time in my book: HALO!

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Some devs are tired of working on Halo and wan't to do other things so some need to renagotiate their contracts.