Microsoft Loses Bungie Friends
During most of this year Microsoft was starting to sweat with worry wondering if they were going to make it through the slump in sales that was left in the wake on Nintendo’s Wii. They were saved by the release of Halo 3, which in one week allowed them to make over $300 million. Now though it seems they are going to lose those people who helped them as they branch out on their own.
Microsoft Corp said on Friday that Bungie, the crown jewel of its video game unit behind the hit “Halo” franchise, will become a separate company, opening the possibility that it could make titles for Microsoft rivals. Microsoft said it will retain a stake in the new company, to be called Bungie LLC, and will continue to publish future Halo games and other titles.
Granting Bungie a few freedoms may have been a necessary move to keep the artists happy. Bungie won’t comment on the financial details of the deal, but the staff seems happy. “This is seen as a reward to them for ‘Halo’ doing so well,” says Bungie writing lead Frank O’Connor. Day-to-day interactions with Microsoft will remain the same, he says.
“Now that they’re free they can come up with something else and address the whole market,” Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said, adding he expected Microsoft would have a window of exclusive rights to new Bungie games. “The Xbox has given us lot of success so, for now, our eyes are set on the Xbox 360,” Bungie spokesman Brian Jarrard said. “We’re not in a situation where we’re running out the door and grabbing Wii and PS3 development kits. There’s not a real intention to do that unless something changes down the road.”
While Microsoft can still expect to see some sort of profit it seems that they will have to say goodbye to most of it. Bungie was smart to separate though they should have done it before the Halo 3 release.
