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[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Me think Microsoft is gonna go on a big shopping spree soon...

They should. Their first party operation is in shambles. They really need to get it up to par with Sony and Nintendo's in terms of quality and number of studios owned.

On a side note, I wonder if Peter Moore's quick exit was related to this?

 

[hoos30]

Fitting ending to a great week!

/goes back to searching for Skulls

 

[LiveWire]

Good news for Bungie.

Maybe I've misread, but I didn't see anything in that press release that would absolutely deny Bungie's ability to develop new IP (and have it published by another company) for other platforms. It mentions MS and Bungie will continue to have Halo on MS platforms, and that Bungie will stay with a publishing arrangement with MS on some new IP, but I didn't see any mention of exclusivity. Was the press release intentionally vague to avoid FUD for MS's sake? Or is there really no chance of Bungie desiring to develop a new IP for another platform?

 

[storybook77]

PC dev. Totally different story. Their PC games division is stellar IMO.

They are making Halo Wars which is why I asked since it is for 360.

 

[Random_Hajile]

Can they move back to Chicago now

 

[Odysseus]

They should. Their first party operation is in shambles. They really need to get it up to par with Sony and Nintendo's in terms of quality and number of studios owned.

On a side note, I wonder if Peter Moore's quick exit was related to this?

screw that, they need to go ahead and bail out.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

They are making Halo Wars which is why I asked since it is for 360.

At this point, if I were MS, I would politley ask all my PC devs (owned or published) to make 360 games.

 

[tak]

I need to know the details of this agreement until I can react to it, but no matter what way you slice it Microsoft lost their biggest property in MGS.

 

[Steroyd]

Well it's like Sony's 2nd parties, they make great games while not having the company brass breathing down their necks

What about Naughty Dog who is wholey owned by Sony?

The creativity between Insomiac and Naughty Dog have been so parallel with each other it wouldn't make a lick of difference if ND just went independant tomorrow, except the tiny possibility of developing for another platform.

 

[Amused_To_Death]

Peter Moore saw the writings on the wall and bolted...

They just lost Bizzare Creations to Activision, they need to go find a developer for PGR as well...

 

[Evlar]

They should. Their first party operation is in shambles. They really need to get it up to par with Sony and Nintendo's in terms of quality and number of studios owned.

On a side note, I wonder if Peter Moore's quick exit was related to this?

After the shut down of FASA and now this I'm wondering if MS is actually trying to divest itself of all console first-party studios... It would be an interesting strategy. Rely on the ol' mountains of MS cash to acquire second-party agreements and third-party exclusivity deals, while avoiding the stigma (and expense) of internal developers. No one could bitch about MS having a competitive edge on their own system.

 

[Tieno]

Is there anyway to find out how much the Bungie folks payed MS for part-ownership?

MS bought Bungie for 50mil$ (undoubtly up now). No doubt the current agreement reduced some of price Bungie folks had to pay.

 

[Odysseus]

Is there anyway to find out how much the Bungie folks payed MS for part-ownership?

MS bought Bungie for 50mil$ (undoubtly up now). No doubt the current agreement reduced some of price Bungie folks had to pay.

marty o'donnell cut a check, that's all you need to know.

 

[Littleberu]

Peter Moore saw the writings on the wall and bolted...

They just lost Bizzare Creations to Activision, they need to go find a developer for PGR as well...

I wonder, do you know how many developer Sony lost in the PSOne era?

 

[xbhaskarx]

At this point, if I were MS, I would politley ask all my PC devs (owned or published) to make 360 games.

Seriously, or not-so-politely.

And shouldn't they bring all their old stuff on the 360: Halo, Halo 2, Age of Empires?

 

[hoos30]

They should. Their first party operation is in shambles. They really need to get it up to par with Sony and Nintendo's in terms of quality and number of studios owned.

This makes me wonder even more why they let Bizarre Creations get bought by Activision. With Bungie leaning away and the whole FASA fiasco, it seems BC would have been a nice fit inside MGS. Make me wonder if Ballmer is feeling the heat from Wall Street and starting to turn off the cash spigot to EDD.

 

[Ether_Snake]

No more MGS dogs following them around all day with AKs in their backs. More creative freedom, clearly.

As long as they have a publisher on their side.

I mean, as far as I can tell, nothing would prevent them from being acquired by a publisher.

 

[xbhaskarx]

After the shut down of FASA and now this I'm wondering if MS is actually trying to divest itself of all console first-party studios... It would be an interesting strategy. Rely on the ol' mountains of MS cash to acquire second-party agreements and third-party exclusivity deals, while avoiding the stigma (and expense) of internal developers. No one could bitch about MS having a competitive edge on their own system.

That's an interesting strategy, but it might be too risky.

 

[Tieno]

marty o'donnell cut a check, that's all you need to know.

But that's not all I want to know.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

After the shut down of FASA and now this I'm wondering if MS is actually trying to divest itself of all console first-party studios... It would be an interesting strategy. Rely on the ol' mountains of MS cash to acquire second-party agreements and third-party exclusivity deals, while avoiding the stigma (and expense) of internal developers. No one could bitch about MS having a competitive edge on their own system.

It is possible.

It is also possible that previous regimes at MS simply created a screwed up mess that needed to be gutted out with a knife so that they could start over again with the building process. Ed Fries and Moore did some very good things but they also had some huge screw ups.

Insert a new boss who oversaw a company (EA) known for buying people out and creating brands. He is probably just trying to divest himself of all the messes those before him left behind.

It wouldnt suprise me if personal relationships within Bungie, FASA, Digital Anvil, MGS etc led to alot of events that we are simply unaware of. I am sure a good book could come out of this.lol

 

[electricpirate]

As long as they have a publisher on their side.

I mean, as far as I can tell, nothing would prevent them from being acquired by a publisher.

Since they aren't publicly traded, they would have to sell.

 

[saelz8]

At this point, if I were MS, I would politley ask all my PC devs (owned or published) to make 360 games.

All of MGS are already making 360 games, save ACES (Flight Simulator).

 

[MightyHedgehog]

As long as they have a publisher on their side.

I mean, as far as I can tell, nothing would prevent them from being acquired by a publisher.

Except that they just went independent. Having a long term publishing deal with Mr. MoneybagS is all they need.

 

[Quazar]

Hoping gamasutra gets a nice long interview with MS sometime soon.

 

[electricpirate]

Marty had to give up the rights to the flinstones jingle for this to happen...

 

[nelsonroyale]

evolve?

 

[ram]

so - they could work (besides halo for MS) on other multi-platform projects like oni 2 for 2kgames?

at least, to me it isnt clear, if bungie`s games are only bound to microsoft platforms. because if thats true, why would they go independant? yeah, and dont come up with the argument of development freedem, when microsoft would publish every game from them.

 

[VALIS]

you all are crazy if you think Bungie is publishing on PS3 or Wii

You were crazy to think that days ago. One of them is nearly stillborn and the other really doesn't seem to suit Bungie's talents, plus they already sell boatloads on the MS machines... *snort* the wishful thinking was real entertaining, though.

 

[Kintaro]

So, what now for Bungie? Setting aside the fact that nothing that they will make will ever come close to the success of Halo, what kind of game and genre will they turn to? I'd say Myth but that's owned by Take 2 now. Marathon? Don't think they'd want to do another FPS for awhile. Oni? No thanks. So, where to now?

 

[Amused_To_Death]

Is there anyway to find out how much the Bungie folks payed MS for part-ownership?

MS bought Bungie for 50mil$ (undoubtly up now). No doubt the current agreement reduced some of price Bungie folks had to pay.

Maybe they didn't have to pay them a dime, just promise to keep the publishing agreement in place...

Microsoft just sold $300M of Halo in one week, Bungie's royalty check is probably in the tens of millions, probably get close to $100M before the end of the year, they have a lot of money not only to pay Microsoft if they have to, but to support their future endeavors for a long time to come...

 

[Philthy]

It doesnt say:
a) Can they develop whatever they want?
b) Can they develop for other platforms?
c) Does MS still have a % of the company or do they now just have a publishing deal?

I don't see why not. The only real agreement is that whatever decisions are made about Halo, Microsoft gets to have some control. I would think anything else is fair game. Being independent would allow them to branch out to other platforms and make some money there. They earned it after Halo 3, and it looks like Microsoft agrees. I'm also certain stock holders were probably happy about it, too. More markets to publish hit games on, more sales, more money for everyone. I would guess Microsoft would have rather not let them go, but I think the success of Halo 3 pretty much let Bungie demand what they wanted. Both are rubbing each others backs at this point, instead of having one side be a bit frustrated.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

The comment says that both Microsoft and Bungie are happy for this decision, but of course this is false: Bungie is happy, because now they can decide to develop what they want for who they want, but sure it isn't Microsoft, that now hasn't the control of the studio anymore. I'm not so naive to believe at what they say: if the problem was creativity, they should have remained without problem a Microsoft's property. This is only the official explication. The TRUE explication is that they wanna have the independency once again.

Comparisons with the Rare-Nintendo separation ?

 

[Pimpwerx]

yikes. overanalyze much?

Not really. The wording is very specific. It's no accident, as they use the plural "Microsoft platforms" which would exclude the unsupported Xbox, but include the Xbox360 and another platform. You can argue that it's Zune, but it's probably Windows. So that's the primary focus, so where's the secondary and maybe even tertiary platforms? Must be with someone else, unless MS is now getting into the handheld market.

IMO, this is more like what happened with Incognito or Psygnosis back in the day than Insomniac. I don't think Insomniac was ever owned by Sony. And if they were, they never seemed to have beef. Wipeout ended up on the N64 due, I think, to beef Psygnosis had. Incognito I thought was owned by Sony at one point, and then they were allowed to leave similar to Bungie. They aren't tied to Sony necessarily, but they continue their publishing ties.

This is neither good nor bad IMO, it's just interesting. 360 owners have nothing to worry about IMO, they should see every Bungie release, which is all that matters. It does open the possibilities for the competition. I see the DS getting some love due to it's continued sales performance. The PSP has the slimmest of chances. But IMO, the real possibility is the PS3. Why? They'd need three levels of development to make games for handhelds, the 360 and the Wii. OTOH, they only need two levels of development to support handhelds and the PS360. This probably lets them bend MS over a little when it comes time to publishing a game. They can demand more money to make up for lost multiplat profits. Meh, massive amounts of speculation. :? PEACE.

 

[giga]

The comment says that both Microsoft and Bungie are happy for this decision, but of course this is false: Bungie is happy, because now they can decide to develop what they want for who they want, but sure it isn't Microsoft, that now hasn't the control of the studio anymore.

Comparisons with the Rare-Nintendo separation ?

We’ll continue to make Xbox 360 games, and we’ll continue to make amazing games for MGS. In that regard, nothing has changed. All that has changed is that now Bungie Studios is once again, the property of the folks of Bungie Studios.

.

 

[Wulfer]

so - they could work (besides halo for MS) on other multi-platform projects like oni 2 for 2kgames?

at least, to me it isnt clear, if bungie`s games are only bound to microsoft platforms. because if thats true, why would they go independant? yeah, and dont come up with the argument of development freedem, when microsoft would publish every game from them.

What part of first refusal from Microsoft (MGS) did you not read? This includes future (read new IPs).

 

[Steroyd]

so - they could work (besides halo for MS) on other multi-platform projects like oni 2 for 2kgames?

at least, to me it isnt clear, if bungie`s games are only bound to microsoft platforms. because if thats true, why would they go independant? yeah, and dont come up with the argument of development freedem, when microsoft would publish every game from them.

But MS just wants Bungie to churn out Halo like a lean mean Halo producing machine, going by what we 'know.'

 

[Evlar]

What part of first refusal from Microsoft (MGS) did you not read? This includes future (read new IPs).

I guess I missed the words "first refusal".

 

[Philthy]

It does open the possibilities for the competition. I see the DS getting some love due to it's continued sales performance.

This really could do with the Halo DS as well. Back before the Wii was out, and Sony was enemy #1, Microsoft may have okayed Bungie to start work on Halo DS to bite into PSP sales. When Microsoft saw the Wii and DS destroy the market, it may have become very real that Nintendo was now real competition instead of companion console to the 360 regulated to 2nd place. So they canned it, and the Bungie devs may have really liked the DS platform and wanted to develop for it still. Maybe they just see a lot of potential on other platforms that they want to work with and this is where it all started.

 

[jarrod]

This is neither good nor bad IMO, it's just interesting. 360 owners have nothing to worry about IMO, they should see every Bungie release, which is all that matters. It does open the possibilities for the competition. I see the DS getting some love due to it's continued sales performance. The PSP has the slimmest of chances. But IMO, the real possibility is the PS3. Why? They'd need three levels of development to make games for handhelds, the 360 and the Wii. OTOH, they only need two levels of development to support handhelds and the PS360. This probably lets them bend MS over a little when it comes time to publishing a game. They can demand more money to make up for lost multiplat profits. Meh, massive amounts of speculation. :? PEACE.

No chance in hell. You'll *never* see a Bungie game on PSP, PS3 or Wii. Never.

DS is pretty remote too honestly, but at least there's a slight possibility there.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Next-gen.biz got a quote from Jason Jones.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7411&Itemid=2

Jason Jones likened the situation to living the life aquatic. “Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees.”

 

[ALeperMessiah]

But IMO, the real possibility is the PS3. Why? They'd need three levels of development to make games for handhelds, the 360 and the Wii. OTOH, they only need two levels of development to support handhelds and the PS360. This probably lets them bend MS over a little when it comes time to publishing a game. They can demand more money to make up for lost multiplat profits. Meh, massive amounts of speculation. :? PEACE.

I think that's the least likely possiblity. Microsoft does still own a portion of Bungie after all. And MGS is still there publisher. It's not like they completely severed ties. I'd be more willing to be that Bungie will release something for the DS, maybe the Wii. I don't see anything coming out from Bungie on the PS3.

 

[Evlar]

Next-gen.biz got a quote from Jason Jones.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7411&Itemid=2

Let's see how many pages of speculation we can get from "dolphins".

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Not manatees riding motorcycles on fire being chased by helicopters? Fail.

 

[besada]

They should. Their first party operation is in shambles. They really need to get it up to par with Sony and Nintendo's in terms of quality and number of studios owned.

Why? It seems to me like it makes more sense to move in the direction MS has been moving. Rather than own a bunch of studios which may or may not put out amazing games every time, just keep an eye on third-party games then come in and drop a shitload of cash on them for exclusivity. Or buy enough extra bling for the 360 version that no one bothers with the others. It's likely cheaper to do than funding the game from the ground up, and fits much more with MS's corporate style.

Edit: Should have read past your comment, as someone else also outlined this theory.

 

[Pimpwerx]

No chance in hell. You'll *never* see a Bungie game on PSP, PS3 or Wii. Never.

DS is pretty remote too honestly, but at least there's a slight possibility there.

You know as well as I do that there's si no such thing as "never" in this business, and that PR has all the backdoor wording it needs in this regard. There's also no specifics on the publishing deal. The original rumor said MS has first-refusal on titles, but that's not noted in the PR. I assume it's just a given that MS can keep all Bungie games exclusive, but that this means MS will have to pay Bungie whatever they demand now. It makes sense since Halo is like a billion dollar franchise now. PEACE.

 

[radjago]

Bungie cofirms first new IP: XBL Netiquette Training for DS.

 

[tak]

Next-gen.biz got a quote from Jason Jones.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7411&Itemid=2

Jason Jones needs to speak publicly more, his quotes are awesome.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Ahem.

 

[Router]

Great news.

 

[jarrod]

You know as well as I do that there's si no such thing as "never" in this business, and that PR has all the backdoor wording it needs in this regard. There's also no specifics on the publishing deal. The original rumor said MS has first-refusal on titles, but that's not noted in the PR. I assume it's just a given that MS can keep all Bungie games exclusive, but that this means MS will have to pay Bungie whatever they demand now. It makes sense since Halo is like a billion dollar franchise now. PEACE.

But software sales are bunk on the PlayStations, and Wii too generally outside Nintendo. If there was a hugely competitive other option a la PS2, then I could see it. But as is, with the dog PlayStations and hard to please Wii base, there's no incentive to make it worth Bungie's trouble even, nevermind the fury they'd face from Microsoft.

Like I said, even DS is a slim chance at best... but by all means, keep dreaming.