Bungie and Microsoft separating? Not so fast says MS

Fresh off Microsoft and Bungie’s record-setting Halo 3 release last week, a rumor about the developer and the publisher was spotted on site 8bitjoystick. The tip supposedly came from from “a friend close to someone who works for Bungie.”

According to the post, Bungie Studios wants out of Microsoft’s publishing mantle for several reasons. The biggest being that they’re not too happy with how Microsoft is handling business.

The tipster says that in the aftermath of Microsoft and Bungie’s separation, Microsoft gets to keep all the rights to the Halo franchise. There’s a possibility that Bungie may still develop Halo‘s next games, but they’ll do this in a completely separate deal.

The latest on this volatile buzz is that there are three possibilities: One is that Jim Jones might be leaving Bungie. Another is that a Bungie faction may be starting a new act a la Free Radical splitting from Rare Ltd. The third – and the most likely possibility – is that none of this could be true and Bungie will continue to make great games and loads of cash with Microsoft.

The “no-such-thing” possibility is supported by Microsoft’s latest statement to an MTV query. “ThereÂ’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is ‘Halo 3,” explains a Microsoft representative.

Technically, it’s unlikely that Bungie will leave Microsoft because the latter owns the former. Team members could quit and start a new studio, but they won’t bring the name along with them. The success and stability of the partnership seems to suggest that this rumor may remain a rumor for good.

Fresh off Microsoft and Bungie’s record-setting Halo 3 release last week, a rumor about the developer and the publisher was spotted on site 8bitjoystick. The tip supposedly came from from “a friend close to someone who works for Bungie.”

According to the post, Bungie Studios wants out of Microsoft’s publishing mantle for several reasons. The biggest being that they’re not too happy with how Microsoft is handling business.

The tipster says that in the aftermath of Microsoft and Bungie’s separation, Microsoft gets to keep all the rights to the Halo franchise. There’s a possibility that Bungie may still develop Halo‘s next games, but they’ll do this in a completely separate deal.

The latest on this volatile buzz is that there are three possibilities: One is that Jim Jones might be leaving Bungie. Another is that a Bungie faction may be starting a new act a la Free Radical splitting from Rare Ltd. The third – and the most likely possibility – is that none of this could be true and Bungie will continue to make great games and loads of cash with Microsoft.

The “no-such-thing” possibility is supported by Microsoft’s latest statement to an MTV query. “ThereÂ’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is ‘Halo 3,” explains a Microsoft representative.

Technically, it’s unlikely that Bungie will leave Microsoft because the latter owns the former. Team members could quit and start a new studio, but they won’t bring the name along with them. The success and stability of the partnership seems to suggest that this rumor may remain a rumor for good.