Rumour control: Microsoft to sell off Bungie (Halo developers)?

[Asher]

I don't think so, but teh intarwebs think so.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/824/824193p1.html

Even though this would make zero sense, MS would keep the Halo franchise.

[snoopy369]

Perhaps some bungie developers decided they were unhappy with Halo 3 not being ported to the Mac

[Kuciwalker]

Teh intarwebs are dumb?

[Wiglaf]

One blogger causes all of this?

I can't think of a justification for why Microsoft would sell Bungie. At all.

[Wiglaf]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Perhaps some bungie developers decided they were unhappy with Halo 3 not being ported to the Mac

Then they would be fired. Losing the Bungie name would cost Microsoft a few games sales for no reason.

[Skanky Burns]

Obviously, they want to start developing for Wii.

[Asher]

The plot thickens:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/14693/Rumor-Bungie-Is-Leaving-Microsoft/

By now, you must have heard the rumor of Bungie leaving Microsoft that started at 8Bit Joystick.com. Well, 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...

[Agathon]

I heard that Bungie's designers were sick of being told to make first person shooters and clones of their first Halo game.

Kind of ties up with what I said in the Halo thread.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
I heard that Bungie's designers were sick of being told to make first person shooters and clones of their first Halo game.

Kind of ties up with what I said in the Halo thread.

What you heard was speculation.

It sounds like it'll be a second-party arrangement, like Rare had with Nintendo. It gives Bungie more opportunity for other things as well, more autonomy.

Spoiler:

But if Bungie didn't intend to make more Halo games, they wouldn't have had the ending they did...

[Wiglaf]

gamespot:

Upon closer examination, though, it appears rumors of Bungie's impending independence have been greatly exaggerated. For one, the blog post was not written by anyone on the Post-Intelligencer's staff, as evidenced by the note at the top of the page that reads: "P-I Reader Blogs are not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content."

The author of the post is one Jacob Metcalf, whose earlier Bungie-related posts include the enlightening "Even orange cats love Halo 3" and "LOL HALO 3!" He is the editor of the 8bitjoystick.com, a self-styled "e-zine for nerds" that has published such weighty articles as "Siracha [sic] Hot Chili Sauce: The Condiment of the Future" and "Separate Lists on Netflix is The Key to Romantic Cinematic Bliss" since its inception in 2002. Virtually all of 8bitjoystick.com's most recent posts also appear as reader blog posts on the Post-Intelligencer's Web site.

[Asher]

It's subsequently been pseudo-corroborated. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility for MS to spin off Bungie as a second party and agreement to produce X many Halo games. Bungie can then make teams and work on other games as well if they choose.

[Wiglaf]

How is a "second party" any different from what Bungie is now? If Microsoft still owns them as Nintendo owned Rare, I don't see what changes.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
How is a "second party" any different from what Bungie is now? If Microsoft still owns them as Nintendo owned Rare, I don't see what changes.

Rare was not wholly owned under Nintendo.

Bungie is wholly owned by MS now (first party).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-party_developer

In the video game industry, a second-party developer is a developer who, while being a separate entity from any console manufacturer, is tied to a specific one usually through contract or partial ownership and makes games specifically for that console manufacturer.

The defining characteristic is that a second-party developer is a company completely separate from the manufacturer, while first-party developers are considered to be a "division" of the console maker itself.

A second-party developer should not be confused with an internal first-party studio. For example, Intelligent Systems, developers of the original Metroid games (as well as the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars games,) is an internal Nintendo studio and therefore not second-party. Camelot Software Planning, developer of the Golden Sun, Mario Golf and Mario Tennis games, is an example of a second-party developer.

[FrostyBoy]

Bungie didn't get their fair cut of the revenue from Halo 3?
Bill Gates told them to make Halo 4?
They hated Halo 3, and now that they have finally finished it, they are taking their money and leaving?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Bungie didn't get their fair cut of the revenue from Halo 3?
Bill Gates told them to make Halo 4?
They hated Halo 3, and now that they have finally finished it, they are taking their money and leaving?

Amazing -- 3 guesses and all 3 are incredibly stupid.

1) Bungie is MS is Bungie. Comprenede?
2) Bill Gates doesn't work for MS anymore
3) They can't leave, they're wholly owned. If they "leave", it's because Microsoft is selling them.