Bungie Spoke To Microsoft About New Project News

Plenty of imprecise information has flooded the internet since yesterday's announcement of the Bungie/Activision announcement. Will it make E3 or won't we see anything this year?  It seems Bungie is keeping its cards very close to its chest.

Perhaps the most significant thing we've come across was featured on One of Swords, the Activision blogger who spoke candidly about his own thoughts on the beleagured publisher last week.

Speaking to Bungie's Joseph Staten and Brian Jarrard, the duo revealed that they had been in touch with Microsoft over the new project.

"I will say that we talked to a lot of prospective publishers, Microsoft being one of them," Jarrard said. "We obviously enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for the past decade, and we did talk to them a lot about our future projects. But ultimately it came down to Activision as the publisher, at the end of the day, could meet all the terms that we thought were important, in addition to bringing world-class marketing and global distribution and multi-platform expertise to the table."

Jarrard outlined the significance of the project, claiming it's not about a single game or necessarily a trilogy.

"In order to pull off what we have envisioned for the next decade, and just the ambitious nature and the scope and scale we’re aiming for, it’s going to take the full might of our entire studio."

"We’re not announcing just a single game or even coming out and saying 'it’s a trilogy'.  This is not about specific games, this is about ten years of creating a universe where we can tell any story that we want, any story we can dream up – and give it to people on whatever device platform that they would like to use"

The most interesting thing about the deal is the fact that Bungie have become virtually synonymous with Xbox; Bungie fans are in the large Xbox owners. This has naturally led to claims of 'selling out' and we can't imagine too many Halo fans will be happy to find their most beloved developer releasing games on the PS3.

Staten claims such fans should "take a deep breath".

"Well, I was around when Bungie 'sold out' the first time to Microsoft," Staten claimed. "As part of the crew that moved out from Chicago, I mean, heck, ten years ago I was one of those people that didn’t know and was worried about our future. I can honestly say, ten years on, I and most of those same guys that moved out from Chicago, we’re still here. We’re stronger, we’re wiser, we took our time."

"Since 2007, with clear goals, we waited and waited until we found a partner that would meet us where we wanted to go, and we signed a deal that is not just going to protect Bungie for ten years and fund it, it’s going to allow us to create this whole new universe of stories that, once we get a chance to break through the noise and we ship Reach and get an opportunity to talk about this universe that we’re planning, we hope it will capture people the same way that Halo did. And once we’re able to set business stuff aside and just concentrate on the creative stuff that we’re making, I think that’s the moment that fans will understand that everything’s okay.

"I’d say, in the meantime, just look at the details of the deal: Bungie remains independent. We control and own what we create. And listen, if you’ve been wishing you could play Bungie games on your console of choice and your device of choice, we’re looking at all possibilities and we want to share our stories with you. If I were a fan, sure, you’re going to have your reaction and we understand that – but take a deep breath, dig a little bit and understand the details and know that it’s just the beginning of a great new era for Bungie and fans of the games that we make."