Microsoft Corp. announced Monday that they would acquire Chicago-based game developer Bungie Software Products Corp.
Bungie is the developer of the "Marathon" series of sci-fi action games and the highly-anticipated "Halo." They also produced the popular "Myth" series of fantasy real-time strategy games and the upcoming anime-style action-adventure "Oni."
Now the company, founded in 1991 and cutting its teeth on the Macintosh platform, is expected to play a key role in developing content for the Xbox, Microsoft’s game console.
"This acquisition reflects our commitment to growing our business with a strong portfolio of quality games for the PC and Xbox platforms," said Ed Fries, vice president of games publishing at Microsoft. "Bungie's highly talented team consistently delivers award-winning games, and we're looking forward to supporting their creative spirit here at Microsoft."
According to Alex Seropian, Bungie’s co-founder and CEO, "Microsoft will provide us with the resources and infrastructure we need to continue to build great games and make them available on a worldwide scale. We are also looking forward to helping define the Xbox platform, which may soon be the world's premier game console."
Seduced by the Xbox
Bungie’s diehard fan base is skeptical, many fearing that this arrangement may mean that Halo, and any future Bungie projects, will be released as Xbox-only titles. Jason Jones, co-founder and technical head, assured fans that "the decision about which platforms to develop for remains ours" in an interview with game news site Daily Radar.
Jones also emphasized Bungie’s interest in getting in on the ground floor with the new console. "Being there while the [Xbox] is being built is really exciting. Being able to affect and change the process is incredible. To be part of this from the inside is way different than what we could do as a third party. We would have had to stretch our resources to make Halo as good as it can possibly be on the Xbox."
Halo, despite being months away from release, has garnered huge amounts of interest, both for its evocative science fiction setting (on a structure apparently inspired by
’s "Ringworld") and for its cutting-edge technology.
Bungie will exist as an independent studio within the Microsoft Game Division. All three Bungie development teams (two in Chicago, one in San Jose) will move to Redmond. Games will continue to be released under the Bungie name.
As part of the arrangement, game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., which owned 19.9 percent of Bungie, will sell its stake to Microsoft, while gaining complete rights to the Myth and Oni franchises. Take-Two will also have the right to publish two games using the Halo engine.
