Ex Bungie dev: Apple got close to buying us

Steve Jobs’ Apple Inc was just days away from buying Bungie when Microsoft sealed the deal at the eleventh hour, an ex-developer of the Halo studio has claimed.

[wat634]

And Microsoft saved a great studio i might add.

[Cajun Chicken]

Admittedly, Halo would be a poor third person shooter if it wasn't the for the input of Microsoft. It was them that suggested the emphasis on FPS. I still wonder what the TPS would of been like though.

But Bungie is one of the rare developers that Microsoft took onboard for the XBOX that didn't become a casualty.

[Garrus_Vakarian]

Watch a film in third person. Bam!

It actually looks like it would be fun.

[Motorola]

if its the next "fad", expect a Halo TPS

[lzim]

TPS is irrelevant.

Bungie has more experience than simple TPS. It could have been open world (which it ended up being regardless).

Point is MS had, and continued to have much more money to throw at Bungie and sadly Bungie did well enough for themselves that MS didn't lose interest and have then closed like so many other studios, even the core ones.

Apple would have had a great starting point to internal game development. Microsoft buying them out might actually be the bitters on Apples fingers for internal AAA game development (they could have had PC gaming practically uncontested since missing out on Bungie and have done little or nothing since).

[tacosRcool]

Who know what'll happen next anyways

[Optical_Matrix]

Apple getting a lot of spotlight on this website over the past couple of days. Anyways, I'm glad Microsoft bought them. Apple isn't serious enough about gaming to have done this franchise any amount of good. I doubt Halo would have been nearly as successful on Mac as it is on the Xbox simply because the userbase of gamers just isn't there. Plus the systems are too damn expensive (that said I'm a Macbook Pro user haha) and, if you consider the fact that a lot of Halo's fanbase are young teenagers-late teens, how would they have ever afforded the platform to even play the game on.

Other side to the story is that, maybe, Halo could have launched Apple into the videogame market as a serious competitor. With this in mind this MIGHT be why Jobs was so pissed about Microsoft securing Bungie as a 1st party studio. I guess we'll never know. But it's interesting to think about.

[SkylineR]

I agree. I think Bungie could've been "lost" had they been bought by Apple. Halo could've still been a great game on Apple's hardware but it would've been a cult hit with just the Apple crowd. It might've even been a 1 or 2 game only franchise. And knowing Jobs, he would have all of Bungie making iOS software by now. :p

Personally I think MS did save Bungie if the story of them being in financial trouble is true. Halo might've turned out be a "What if" story if no-one bough them. Regardless though, they're multiplatform now so whatever game is next, more people will enjoy it and see how good a developer they are and see why Halo is enjoyed by so many gamers. (excluding ThatCanadianGuy ^ up there)

[Bathyj]

Buy me Apple.

Buy me an HTC.

[gcolley]

they were better off because back then apple didnt give a shit about games. bungie would be nothing if apple had bought them

[gypsygib]

I doubt Bungie's success will ever match the success it had with Halo. I loved Reach but mainly because of the Halo universe. The game without the Halo lore would be about an 8/10.

[lzim]

then you and anyone else who believes this are very silly.

Again, Bungie is much more than Halo regardless of that being the most common franchise in their recent history. Like the other studios that have survived Microsoft Bungie are on to bigger and better things. A big factor for them is that they have Activision for extra money and they don't lack for ideas and talented people.

What they most of all to do is not overreach whatever product/franchise/legacy it is that they will be working on next. Activision is going to send them into orbit.

[Fatal Blow]

Am sure by 2020 apple will release a console by the looks of it

[lzim]

They don't need one. And try 2 years or less not 10.

Frankly an iMac IS a gaming platform to trump any console. It might cost more but being a computer, and a closed system, Apple just needs proprietary games. Given Steam and enough backing from the industry and it wouldn't take much for the Mac OS to take over for Windows as the default development platform. It has already started since there are so many people making games for Apple's mobile platforms. It is like an ant hill.. and the ants keep getting bigger with every mobile platform generation. Eventually (after iPad with is almost as good as making games for a windows laptop) those people will be making games for iMac.

Have you seen the resolution on iMac? better than FullHD, they have intel processors and AMD/NVIDIA graphics like a windows PC..

The blood will be in the water if Windows 8 starts directly addressing compatibility with the Mac platform.

[The_Nameless_One]

If Apple would have ended up buying Bungie then the Xbox 360 would have never came to be.

[mcstorm]

Im glad they did not buy Bungie as I hate apple. There kit is nice and works well but it is very over priced and will only do what apple want it to do.

But it is true if apple had got them then the xbox would not be the name it is today. The original xbox had a load of amazing games but halo was its mario or GT.

There has also been alot said this week about apple looking to buy sony and I think if this happens it will kill the PS brand off so Please sony dont give in to apples money.