CNBC.com: New partnership between Bungie and Microsoft, not a breakup

CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Jim Goldman: "From the two people I'm talking to inside Bungie, I'm expecting a new kind of partnership between the two and not a wholesale break-up."

CNBC's web article, "Halo 3: Does Success Push Bungie Out Of The Game?", contains a video segment of Jim Goldman's discussion on the TV news.

[Jim Goldman has won several national business journalism awards, and was named by Adweek magazine, the San Jose Mercury News, and the San Jose Business Journal as one of the nation's most influential broadcast business/technology journalists. His reports could be seen on ABC News, CNN, Good Morning America, World News Weekend, World News Now, and World News This Morning.]

[Chris_GTR1]

"From the two people I'm talking to inside Bungie, I'm expecting a new kind of partnership between the two and not a wholesale break-up. "

[ktchong]

The new "partnership" means new satellite studios, new franchises, new IPs, or that sort of deal.

Microsoft "breaks up" Bungie into two or more studios or divisions.

One studio/division will handle just the Halo franchise.

The other "new" Bungie studios/divisions will create new IPs, new games, new franchises. They will be called "Bungie West", "Bungie East", "Bungie North", "Bungie South", or whatever.

It's that kind of arrangement. Well... I suppose you can say it's a "breakup"; i.e., Microsoft is breaking up Bungie into multiple studios.

Maybe that kid heard his "Bungie friend" said: "Microsoft is breaking up Bungie," and then he went, "OMG! Microsoft and Bungie are breaking up!!! I'm so happy for Mac, and I'm so gonna blog this!"

[Chris_GTR1]

maybe there splitting the team up as you said but half are staying with bungie and the rest are going to wingnut studio. wich is the one thats working on the new halo game of that movie guy.

[Kokoro]

is expected to sell well, the thing is: will it sell hardware? this was in the video interview.

[power of Green]

WHO'S TO SAY WHICH FACTOR PULLED THE MOST WEIGHT!(Price, halo 3 or other AAA's or all of the above!).

[Phantom_Lee]

new kind of partnership??
what the hell happen to the old partnership..

[ktchong]

e.g., new satellite studios, new franchises, new IPs, that sort of deal.

Microsoft split Bungie into two or multiple studios or divisions to handle old and new IPs.

Maybe the original Bungie will handle Halo.

Then some "new" Bungie studios (e.g., "Bungie West", "Bungie East", "Bungie North", "Bungie South") will create new IPs.

It's that kind of arrangement. Well... I suppose you can say it's a "breakup"... Microsoft is breaking up Bungie into multiple studios.

[Kuest]

what Mr. Round Peg said.

(I was just about to say "Halo 3, that's what happened"- but Peg's comment was so much better)

[ShiftyLookingCow]

@TRP, I didnt see that in the article, I guess you are speculating. Not a bad idea though.

[Kuest]

come to think of it- where DID you come up with that TRP? I was so mystified and amazed by your professionalism that I simply didn't get a good look at the content.

[ktchong]

Fanboys who despise Microsooft and Xbox 360 must be very disappointed right now.

[unlimited]

I'm disappointed that Microsoft going to still push Bungie to only make Halo games, now we going to see nothing but that game.. I still rather hear the official announcement from them.

[wageslave]

And they couldnt be more wrong about drawing that conclusion.

This is great for everyone involved in Games for Windows or Xbox. Bungie is going to be more nimble and able to create. Microsoft Game Publishing still gets all the games. Windows and Xbox gets new IP, more Halo, and whatever Bungie comes up with.

Win for Microsoft, Win for Bungie and Win for Microsoft's Gaming Customers.

[MADGameR]

I'm glad they did'nt break up. Because you guys Halo is the reason for X Box 360 eh? Besides, SONY's PS3 will catch up to 360 because Halo 3 is not making 360 sell millions. I expected Halo 3 to make 360s sell 2M in just a month. But I guess I over said. Even if Halo 3 boost it to 2M, 360 is still in trouble. You will see one of the reasons why....in 7 days.

[Jandre02]

where did u get that from? It doubled on amazon i think, but in the US it only went up 20%. This guy is an uninformed idiot or hes paid off. vgchartz if you dont believe me.

Like I predicted it is moving software not hardware cuz everyone who wants one has one.

Sony fans are laughing. With your best effort you only managed 120,000 in America.

I love the disagrees BTW. Face the facts though. 120,000 with by far your best game, probably the best selling game of this generation. If im lying prove me wrong..oh shet thats right, you cant prove facts wrong lol.

Halo 3 soft sales=amazing. Halo 3 for console sales, a flop. Simply because no one cares about the xbox. All xbox owners basically by Halo. Just like the rest of your shooters.
Nobody else wants to by that crap. Its pointless. Wii or PS3. No room for the xbox anymore.

@Inspector Gadget in comment 6.4
Thanks for pointing that out. i meant amazon.

Excuse me typing ebay instead of amazon. Bottom line is..
Even if Crackhead Moe on the corner had a sales increase of 1,000%, the end result still shows that US numbers only rose 19% over the previous week. I would give that an error range of +/- 5%

[Kuest]

If you go to gameinformer, gamespot, 1up, or ign- you will also find the same facts. It may be false, but thats why we got NPD to look forward to.

[ozsman]

yeah laughing at u ;P

[Jandre02]

Which I highly doubt it is, then this whole thing did nothing for console sales. NPD is not going to show anything more than 140,000 for the week.

Like i said, AMAZON doubled. Halo didnt help with console sales anymore than the price drop did. To block off the conversion of PS2 owners to PS3 you would have to be pulling atleast HALF of the PS2 numbers by year two.

Right now the PS3 is selling at about the same rate the xbox was at this time. Except the PS3 has NO GAMES! and costs $200 more currently.

With price drops and games, please tell me how the xbox takes up the fans who didnt care enough to buy a console for HAlo?

[darx]

You said that it doubled on ebay. which one is it ebay or Amazon?

[Kuest]

man this is getting good.

[Jandre02]

If Halo cant do it than what can? What game is more massive than the best selling game of all time? If you all were confused BTW, this is why gaming analyst pick the PS3 beat down on the XBOX

Great games, better price, XBOX Live, fastest selling game of all time. You get 19% increase in sales. Im gunna go play halo 3 check back later to see if anyone has an argument other than "XBOX RULEZ!!!" or "SONY SUCKS THEY HAVE NO GAMES!!!" explaining how the xbox will pick up the PS2 owners who have, up until this point, decided to hold out on the xbox.

[Kuest]

But what's to say those PS2 gamers are just going to hop on the more-expensive PS3 bandwagon- especially if the main system seller for the PS2 was the GTA series (now multiplat) and Final Fantasy (which is not coming anytime sonn, to say the least)

By the way, is the price drop 299 or 399 Euros- Gamespot and Gameinformer say 399. Just asking.

[Snukadaman]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/th...

well...i got a disagree for posting up a story about the doubling of sold consoles....nice...i love when cowards disagree without even saying why.

[KeMoBLUE]

keep word here is "EXPECTING" this is just speculation. no proof of a new partnership

[ktchong]

I think Jim Goldman's credentials and credibility, (being an award-winning and "nation's top" journalist who reports for ABC News, CNN, Good Morning America, World News Weekend, World News Now, and World News This Morning,) do count for something.

Certainly count more than some blog kid who can't even spell and write in proper English.

[unlimited]

They are so many sources who claim they have a insider..blah...blah..i rather wait and see till they make the announcement

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

And to all the haters disbelief, Bungie and M$'s partnership is growing.

Funny that so many fanboys were speculating that Bungie was tired of M$, and was going to go make games for Ps3. A few were actually excited, even after spewing hate towards Halo 3 because it isn't on their console.

Funny indeed.

<ed.> Wishful thinking. You really are hoping that M$ and Bungie are done with Halo? Lol.

They've found a cash cow. They're going to milk the hell out of it. I expect a few Halo spinoff games at the very least, if not a Prequel, Sequel, or an Arbiter story (unlikely since most people hated Arby).

You really are a moron to think that they're moving on. Next game may not be called Halo, but I'd bet a lot of money that there are going to be games in the future based in the Haloverse, besides Halo Wars. More FPS's I mean.

[Jandre02]

Only thing Sony fans didnt want is for a whole bunch of stupid ppl to buy the xbox for one game, making us lose exclusives, etc cuz of your install base.

Thank god Halo doesnt move that many consoles..lol.

Even if you keep Bungie on new terms, most people there will bail anyways to make their own studio. Halo is done. Story over. Bungie wont sell 5 million on the xbox ever again.

[unlimited]

That can be true too some people will leave and make their own studio..it wont be the same..

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

"Thank god Halo doesnt move that many consoles..lol. "

Do you pray at your bed every night before you go to sleep that when you wake up the Xbox360 won't exist? Maybe that the world has declared Master Chief and Bungie as unlawful to appreciate? Is there no room for both consoles? Or is it hate because the 360 is doing so well this gen, when compared to the current position of the Ps3?

Honestly. What makes people like you so loyal to a brand name? What did they do for you? Did they pay for your college tuition? Housing? Food? Healthcare? Stock?

What makes you think they give a rats ass about you.

[Kuest]

so right now I find your comments funny and good entertainment. Really, I especially enjoyed the little bit where you stated "Thank god Halo doesnt move that many consoles". Your a life saver- before you came there were virtually no stupid comments. UNTIL... "Halo is done. Story over". Ahh, that's more like it.

Can't wait for NPD. Fanboys, sometimes you gotta love em.

[Jandre02]

And I hate all the bashing that ive seen this past year.

Its like the George w. Bush effect. SO many people bashed him last election that people get tired of it and decided to do the exact opposite of what the media said and vote for him. Just as a finger to the years of telling you what to do. (Maybe thats a bad example if I wanna talk about supporting sony huh? LOL)

Also, I hate the XBOX controller and paying for online. LOL. Thats a bout it though. BUt I honestly believe Sony is going to win regardless of what happens, atleast against XBOX becuase Sony NEEDS to win. MSFT doesnt.

[Kuest]

I have been pleasantly surprised... and confused. Why didn't you make THIS your first post, man. I mean, its okay to not like the 360 (in fact, its good cause I like myself some diversity)- just don't be a twit about it. You, Jan, are not a twit. Your pro-Sony, but, hey, I'm pro-Xbot. But if you can make a sensible post, I will too.

NOW, that being said, hating on Microsoft just because it doesn't meet your needs is ridiculous. You already made your statement by not buying the damn thing. So there's no need to go all crazy and post incorrect stats to show how mad you are. Just enjoy your PS3 games and comment with some sort of dignity. Not "Halo is dead".

Normally, I wouldn't have posted, but your 8.5 post was decent and I felt I was mistaken in insulting you. Forgive and forget.

[Snukadaman]

People usually buy big ticket items in nov-dec....so its pretty immpressive if you think about it.

on a side note..kuest..is that rob reiner as your avatar? and if it is can you explain why you use it..im fascinated..lol.

[ben hates you]

here is my problem with fanboys like you, well you don't like msft well okay thats fine with me, do have any of their products like oh a 360... NO! Then quit f*(king complaining about, if you don't like online or the contorller well from what i understand your not using it so shut the hell up about it, i don't want to hear your crying

[KingME]

Your last comment was one of the DUMBEST, most retarded comments I have ever seen on this site.

1). "Its like the George w. Bush effect. SO many people bashed him last election that people get tired of it and decided to do the exact opposite of what the media said and vote for him."

Are you even old enough to vote, cause you're sure as hell aren't smart enough. So what's next for you, "people keep talking about food, so to defy them I'm going to starve myself!

2). "Also, I hate the XBOX controller and paying for online"

Okay, how can you hate a controller that you don't use and don't own. Also how can you hate paying for online if you aren't paying for online. You obviously don't own an xbox or xbox live, so why do you hate these things. (Strange)

3). "BUt I honestly believe Sony is going to win regardless of what happens, atleast against XBOX becuase Sony NEEDS to win. MSFT doesnt."
Why do you think sony needs to win, or do you really mean YOU NEED SONY TO WIN. I actually have a medical term for this.

Anyway, what you have actually done is broken down and described the complicated mind of a pure hater. This is the type of hater that hates things and can't even explain why. Anyone that hates a winner simply because they always win, are just a jealous A$$ loser that don't know what if feels like to win.

Sony is NOT a loser, they won last gen. This is why I don't know why you feel that they need to win. If you are under age 12, then I apologize because it's not your fault, you're just immature. But if you are older than 12, you need to put down the sixaxes and pick up a book. & STFU!

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I would like to see a squad based shooter liike Republic Commando with its near flawless gameplay and AI teamates with Halo's Marines. Put a breaching charge on a door with grunts and jackels behind it and BOOM! enter the room tell your team to take positions and clear the room RC style. Yes I would like to see more back story about the Arbitor and maybe a game playing as a grunt and how they got forced into the war by the prophets.

[plastixblue]

I bought my Xbox Classic because of Halo 1.

So Halo moved one console... :)

just like I bought my PS3 to play their Exclusives and I bought a Xbox 360 to play theirs. People do buy consoles to play games ya know.

[badkolo]

GOAL, and we score, all you suckers , now what do you have to say, what, what, cat got oyur tongue. you kids make me laugh.

[RadientFlux]

Doesn't surprise I was thought that any Bungie breakup would end up being the same deal that David Jaffe did with Sony.

[ShiftyLookingCow]

yeah but MS is like the Evil Imperial Empire, so any hint of breakup automatically to some people means its not amicable

[MK_Red]

I just pray to God that it's not a case of Irrational being torn into 2K Boston and Australia.

[MattFoley]

that the folks at bungie who arent sick of developing the game will work on the next one and the people who are sick of Halo will oversee the next one while working on a new IP. So they arent really breaking upas much as they are expanding. You can also bet that any new IP is being worked on as we speak and will be descent to say the least. Now would really be a good time to drop in a resume to anyone in game developing.

As far as numbers go and all of what not, I think the real jump will come in mid to late november. I also give microsoft a month to see how well the PS3 sells at its new price point before lowering thier price again really the winner of the war will be decided on who hits 200 soonest and how long the system lasts not what games are out now or whatever.

[Snukadaman]

I just hope their price drop is more then 75 bucks...maybe 100.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

When you sell 4 million games in 3 freaking days it's time to get payed more, that simple. I still dought very much that the dev team that worked on the Halo games will stay together, 8yrs is a long time. We should see some new IPs from the devs that move on, maybe some expansions of the Halo franchise as well as new exclusive content for the 360.

[S1D3 EFFEC7]

"This could be an absolutely huge holiday shopping season for Microsoft and all the game developers producing for the Xbox platform. We knew this would be a big deal for Microsoft; but this big? And the bigger this all is for Microsoft, the worse it gets for Sony. None of this necessarily matters for Nintendo which brilliantly focused on the sector the industry Microsoft and Sony were ignoring. Easily room for two big gaming platform success stories.

Sorry Sony. "

And if the (rumors?) of MS lowering the Core price to $250 (with Memory Card and 4 Live games, to compete with the Wii) and lowering the price of the Premium to $300 and the Elite to $400 (to compete with PS3) are true I see difficult times for Sony ahead, and the Wii might finally get some competition. If this happens, then its one of the best marketing moves I have ever seen in this industry.

PS: I'm not a fanboy, I like all systems, this is just my opinion.

[jlytle1234]

there gets to a point where prices dont matter and the exclusives do. If you are a final fantasy, metal gear, gran turismo, or just any other typical sony franchise, what kind of fool are you to pick up a wii or xbox because they are a little cheaper? likewise if you enjoy your zelda mario and metroid, are you really going to pick up a 360 instead because of its price?
oh and on the subject of bungie. It is about time they do something other than halo. Its like ah-ha releasing three versions of take on me.

[sleepbox]

gee, I dunno...I kinda trust some random asshat Sony fanboy blogger over national cable TV. How can there be only ONE story about the CNBC newscast vs the blogger's DOZENS of reports?

[squelchy15]

well this is good news for all halo fans
sony fans will once again start the halo bashing now they know that it shouldn't be arriving on the ps3

[ShiftyLookingCow]

now that it is official, basically this guy is right

[wageslave]

I think MS is being smart. They did this a couple months ago with its Game Studios in Japan.

The Studios are creative places, and need independance to build their own corporate culture. If you know anyone who works at MS, you'll know that they do this on purpose -- they follow a more 3M style managment, independant units are more dynamic.

Again, this is great news for MS, Bungie and Microsoft's gaming customers.

Oh, and from the horse's mouth instead of this news report:
http://www.microsoft.com/pr...

and

http://www.bungie.net/News/...

[zonetrooper5]

I want Bungie to both make new IP's and to make another Halo game, why, because it keeps them fresh and I still love the Halo universe but I also want to see what Bungie will come up with.

[Wii60_FTW]

new great games from bungie on top of halo? 360 just gets better and better.