Interview: O’Connor explains why Bungie decided to go solo

You may have already heard that Bungie Studios has shrugged off the corporate yoke that Microsoft had over them and finally reclaimed their independence. In an interview with Frank O’Connor, Content Manager for Bungie, explains how the split was an “evolution of Bungie’s independent spirit.”

The recent independence of Bungie was something in the works for around a year already. The decision to go solo went well with the free-spirited and independent nature of the people at Bungie. There were no hard feelings, as it goes, between the two companies and they’ll still be working side-by-side with a lot of projects, particularly for the Xbox Live.

O’Connor explains that it was the strict processes in the Microsoft system that stifled their creative spirit. He had this to say about the matter:

We were a part of MS (Microsoft) and that meant adhering to their hiring policies, infrastructure and penchant for Khaki shorts and golf shirts. We still get the benefits of working closely with the platform team, the Xbox Live guys and the amazing talent at the mothership, but that slight loosening of reins will go a long way. Watch us gallop.

While we won’t be seeing little more than downloadable content and perhaps a future movie set in the Halo universe, O’Connor admitted that the story of their highly-acclaimed Halo series was a closed book already. It shouldn’t mean that fans should be sad now that they’ll be seeing less of Master Chief. Now that Bungie is free to happily develop games once again in their own happy-go-lucky style, we can only wait and see if they still have another trick up their sleeves that will catch every Xbox 360 gamers’ attention.

You may have already heard that Bungie Studios has shrugged off the corporate yoke that Microsoft had over them and finally reclaimed their independence. In an interview with Frank O’Connor, Content Manager for Bungie, explains how the split was an “evolution of Bungie’s independent spirit.”

The recent independence of Bungie was something in the works for around a year already. The decision to go solo went well with the free-spirited and independent nature of the people at Bungie. There were no hard feelings, as it goes, between the two companies and they’ll still be working side-by-side with a lot of projects, particularly for the Xbox Live.

O’Connor explains that it was the strict processes in the Microsoft system that stifled their creative spirit. He had this to say about the matter:

We were a part of MS (Microsoft) and that meant adhering to their hiring policies, infrastructure and penchant for Khaki shorts and golf shirts. We still get the benefits of working closely with the platform team, the Xbox Live guys and the amazing talent at the mothership, but that slight loosening of reins will go a long way. Watch us gallop.

While we won’t be seeing little more than downloadable content and perhaps a future movie set in the Halo universe, O’Connor admitted that the story of their highly-acclaimed Halo series was a closed book already. It shouldn’t mean that fans should be sad now that they’ll be seeing less of Master Chief. Now that Bungie is free to happily develop games once again in their own happy-go-lucky style, we can only wait and see if they still have another trick up their sleeves that will catch every Xbox 360 gamers’ attention.