A little more than a week after Microsoft launched Bungie’s Halo 3 game title for its Xbox 360 console, rumors of the duo splitting began showing up on the Internet amidst good and bad reviews of the game.
This bit of news, which yet has the status of a rumor, was first reported by gaming site 8BitJoystick, who claims that the source- who doesn’t actually work at Bungie Studios but “knows” someone who does- said that Microsoft has agreed to allow Bungie to become an independent studio.
Microsoft had reportedly stated that it will keep the rights to commercially-successful Halo franchise. The source even claimed that the “divorce” of these two huge companies came about due to increased friction during the rush to release halo 3.
It was also reported on 8BitJoystick that Bungie was leaving Microsoft so that it could create new game series without being controlled by Microsoft or actually being tied to the Xbox.
In spite of these rumors which will surely be hard to digest for many gamers out there, Microsoft released a statement saying, “There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3.”
Interestingly, when gaming blog Kotaku contacted Bungie, the company refused to deny any rumors, and referred all queries to the Bungie’s PR agency.
Bungie and Microsoft go a long way since developer Bungie Studios has been a part of Microsoft Game Studios ever since 2000.
If these rumors are indeed true, then losing Bungie will definitely be a huge setback for Microsoft who has reaped in billions just from the Halo game franchise.