Microsoft to spin off 'Halo' creator with Chicago roots
SEATTLE -- Bungie Studios, the "Halo" video game developer acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2000, is once again operating as an independent company, Microsoft said Friday.
The software maker will maintain close ties with privately held Bungie LLC and own a minority stake in it, the companies said.
Microsoft acquired Chicago-based Bungie and its "Halo" concept in 2000, ensuring that the Xbox would be the only game console to run the multiplayer first-person shooter game. Bungie moved from Chicago to Kirkland, Wash., a few miles from Microsoft's Redmond headquarters, and the first installment of the trilogy went on sale simultaneously with the first Xbox console in November 2001.
Bungie will develop games exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Windows PC platforms "for the foreseeable future," said Harold Ryan, Bungie's president and studio head, in an interview.
The two companies said they will continue to work together to support the "Halo" franchise -- including "Halo 3" released Sept. 25 -- and will expand their partnership to include new games. Executives declined to comment on the size of Microsoft's stake or other financial terms of the deal, which was effective Friday.
"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," said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner, in a statement Friday. "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."
Matt Rosoff, an analyst for the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, said he doesn't think Microsoft wanted to spin off Bungie.
"This is probably about Bungie wanting to have a little more control over kinds of games they're making, and not wanting to answer to Microsoft for everything," he said.
Gamers around the globe dropped nearly $300 million on "Halo 3" in the week since the first-person shooter debuted, Microsoft said Thursday.
Microsoft also said that in the week since the launch, Xbox 360 console sales "nearly tripled" from the weekly average reported before the game hit store shelves, according to initial reports from retailers worldwide.
More than 2.7 million people have logged on to Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, to collectively play 40 million hours of "Halo 3" with other gamers, Microsoft said.
Microsoft said "Halo 3" sales hit $170 million in the game's first 24 hours on sale in the U.S., surpassing "Spider-Man 3," which grossed $151 million in its opening weekend. "Halo 3" sells for at least $60 a copy.