s the song says, if you love somebody, set them free. Confirming what we reported earlier this week, Microsoft has announced its plans for Bungie Studios—plans that give the Halo developer the freedom to develop its own IPs while remaining a go-to source for the Halo universe. Microsoft will continue to hold an equity interest in the developer, holding first-refusal rights to publish its new titles.
“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.”
What's Bungie's take on the new relationship? “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 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.”
“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on,” said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner, on Bungie's Web site. “And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees.”
Of course, none of these statements answer the million (or potentially billion) dollar question: Why on earth would Microsoft loosen the leash on its highest-performing studio? What does the company have to gain by granting that degree of freedom? For these answers and more, we went to the source and talked to Bungie's Frank O'Connor.
Game Informer: How did you guys react to the news leak, when the first rumor came out from the Seattle PI?
Frank O’Connor: I’m kind of surprised that it took that long. I mean, obviously a lot of people at Microsoft knew and a lot of people at Bungie knew. Bungie maintained its silence until the first, which was really when the deal was firmed. Obviously, the release wasn’t until today. I’m surprised it took as long as it did. Typically on the Internet news cycle, these things happen a lot faster.