Activision, Halo-maker Bungie Sign Decade Deal
This is what Bungie will be up to for much of the next 10 years.
As a developer, Bungie has gone from being independent to being owned by Microsoft, and then most interestingly divorcing itself from Microsoft to be independent again. Up to this point, Microsoft was still publishing Bungie's games, as they were part of the Microsoft-owned Halo franchise, but today we learn that this is all about to change.
Today Bungie and Activision have announced an exclusive 10-year partnership to bring Bungie’s next big action game universe to market. Under the terms of the agreement, Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute all future Bungie games based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices.
What this means is that Bungie will be partnering with Activision on just this IP, giving it the freedom to continue doing business with other publishers – notably Microsoft – on other projects. It's also important to note that it's almost certain that the next game will be multiplatform. Don't expect it to have anything to do with the Halo universe, though, as that'll still be on Microsoft systems only.
"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."
So for all you Bungie fans, Halo: Reach will likely be one of the last exclusive titles from the developer for the foreseeable future.
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Oh god.... I do hope Bungie doesn't turn in to another Infinity Ward.
Does this mean Call of Duty: Halo Warfare is in the works?
R.I.P. Infinity Ward I mean Bungie
1 year from now: bungie makes COD:MW3 then slowly falls apart. most people think its good to learn form past mistakes, but activision is not most people.
activision said that bungie wasnt for cod but for another type of action game or something like that, i was watching g4 this morning and saw it, who knows whats going on. I bet activison is gonna hold on to their royalties just for hahas
Bungie are definitely working on a completely new IP, they aren't picking up any of the Call of Duty Spin offs. The real question is how will it compare to Halo? Will the Halo Fanboi community be split? Will they stick with New Halo devs who will be developing future Halo games exclusively for Microsoft on the xbox consoles. Or will they follow Bungie as they start their New IP on multiplatforms with activisions marketing?
Bungie is working on something completely new, but all they have developed for the last few years have been Halo games. Will the new Bungie title be in the spirit of Halo or something completely different.
Hopefully the competition between the Bungie Fanbois and the New Halo fanbois causes a lot of drama so we can all sit back and enjoy the show!
Wonder if Halo will use IWNET and 402 for PR?
We enjoyed the good games while you lasted, we'll miss you dearly in the years to come Bungie!
After all this Infinity Ward stuff, you would think that Bungie would have thought twice about committing suicide.
Great.. Halo will no longer be exclusive.
Oh well, at least we might have some good games like.. Halo: Modern War? Wait..
Next bungie ip will be call of halo 2.3: reach for evolved combat.
So, Activision is hiring on a company that got away with making the same game for 10 years? Kinda flailing about in an attempt to make tech-ignorant investors happy, aren't they?
Great.. Halo will no longer be exclusive.Oh well, at least we might have some good games like.. Halo: Modern War? Wait..
Did you actually read the article?
Also, I look at this similar to the EA acquisition of Bioware. Bungie has enough fame and weight to push if Activision does something it doesn't like. Bioware is doing fine under EA, I'm sure Bungie will do fine under Activision. The difference with Infinity Ward was that they were built up by Activision (and indeed owned by them, correct? Not sure on that point).
This must be revenge on infinity Ward members that left
If Bungies getting in bed with the devil I hope they're packing a condom. Burning while you pee is a bitch.
witty comment
No wonder Activision doesn't care about I.W. very much. If this deal is in the works anyway, the I.W. issue would only be an annoyance. Damn corporate people that do anything for more money. Here's hoping they lose every cent they can from the I.W. issue.
I see just another decent developer about to get monkey F'd by the 600lb gorilla known as activision
For god sake dont jump halo ower to diff systems its easy when all retards is on xbox i don whont them to play on a actual good ps3
For god sake dont jump halo ower to diff systems its easy when all retards is on xbox i don whont them to play on a actual good ps3
wow hypocrit much? that comment just makes you look retarded not anyone else.
i'm not sure if you just didnt read the article or too stupid to understand it
They'll screw Bungie over just as much as they did IW. Bungie was just too dazzled by the (probably never to be seen) money waved in front of them to see what Activision did to IW.
This is not the Toms Hardware I remember. Where did all these idiots who can barely construct a sentence come from?
No wonder Ars Technica is now the superior industry news magazine. Even Hexus has better benchmarks.
For god sake dont jump halo ower to diff systems its easy when all retards is on xbox i don whont them to play on a actual good ps3
... If you're a representation of the PS3 community I'll stick with the annoying kids on live...
Methinks the Infinity Ward issue has nothing to do with Activision. Bungie has just as good of a chance at success as Blizzard did when they joined the Activision family.
Oh god..why????
YEAH!!!!
Call of duty: Combat Evolved anyone?
RIP Master Chief. Now he's really dead.
Next, Bungie falls apart and makes new company, "Bungiee"
because Activision screwed them.
I didn't like Microsoft buying Halo and making it an XBox title (which I didn't own). Hopefully, with Activision, whatever great new title they come up with will be multi-platform (unlike anything they'd create/publish under Microsoft). The more people who can play a game, the better off it is. I mean, look at Halo, Microsoft shutdown those X-Box Live servers, leaving a ton of X-Box players in the dark. If it were a multi-platform game (yes, I know it was for PC too, how does that help an X-Box owner?), there might at least be some option's left open.
lol i see halo is done.
I hope they bring back Oni, that game rocked!