Thread: Bungie Sells Soul?????

Bad times ahead for Halo Developer Bungie as they announce a Publishing deal with Activision Press release below

UK, April 29, 2010 - Bungie has just announced a deal with Activision Blizzard, spanning some ten years, that will see the publishing giant releasing the Halo developer's next big franchise.

Bungie President Harold Ryan explained the announcement, saying "We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise, From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences."

The deal gives Activision the rights to publish Bungie's games for the next 10 years across multiple formats.

"Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry's best creative talent," said Activision Blizzard's COO Thomas Tippl, "Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities."

From Bungie.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUNGIE AND ACTIVISION ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE, WORLDWIDE PARTNERSHIP

10-Year Alliance Expands Global Reach for Leading Game Developer Across Multiple Platforms

The groundbreaking alliance will provide Bungie its first such partnership since splitting off from Microsoft in 2007, significantly broadening its global reach by providing the resources and support to develop, distribute and release games worldwide on multiple platforms and devices.

“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” said Harold Ryan, President of Bungie. “From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”

“Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,” stated Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”

I for one am not a happy bunny but of course M$ Own Halo and all halo related materials and as such 343 industries within Microsoft Game Studio's are creating any and all future Halo related products and games.

After the IW debacle and after such a strong relationship between M$ and Bungie many are questioning the logic behind the decision too team up with Activision.

Discuss...........................

I find the notion of a developer having a soul amusing.
They exist to make money.
Halo games illustrate this perfectly. The same old tired soulless Shit for years on end .

Originally Posted by S7eve

I find the notion of a developer having a soul amusing.
They exist to make money.
Halo games illustrate this perfectly. The same old tired soulless Shit for years on end .

Halo is warm, fluffy and soooo has a soul!! you know what i mean Bungie stuck too what they wanted too craft from the start and were never swayed. I have stopped crying now though so its looking up

I don't know, it's a tough one to call. I mean Activision aren't exactly making a lot of friends right now but the whole IW thing has been discussed to death accross the length and breadth of the internet so there is no point in going back into it here.
Their business etiquette leaves a lot to be desired but then they are only publishers, what input they get into the end product is at least limited to a certain extent. Bungie seem certain that they will largely retain creative control over their future products and that it was this fact that was a deciding factor in going with Activision. So in terms of how it should affect us as consumers, theoretically it shouldn't be to a great degree.
Ethically I can see why everyone is put out by the deal, but then if your looking for a soulless, faceless, money grubbing corporation more concerned with product margins than good games, just throw a rock. There are a lot of them around.
What surprises me is after years of Bungie taking great pride in their independence following their split from Microsoft they would then sign themselves on with another mega-corporation. Then again given the eonomically skull fucked times we are living in who knows what financial concerns may have driven this move, I always reasoned that Bungie would be pretty well off considering Halo's enduring popularity, but then I never figured that 3D Realms or Midway were going to collapse when they did either.
In the end I'm going to have faith in Bungie and hope it all works out okay, even if it does proove to be misplaced loyalty. Call me sentimental.

Bungie.net was good coz the map packs were free after a while which was good but if this happens and Halo Reach do get some DLC that means they are going to stay expensive, like all the COD maps packs, which is disappointing coz i think COD3,COD4 and WAW are old now and they are still charging the maps packs