Are Bungie and Microsoft parting ways?

Submitted by TAR Tom on Tue, 02/10/2007 - 8:02am. 360 | Console | XBOX

The rumour doing the round this morning is that Bungie and Microsoft are set to part ways. I can see a lot of reasons for both sides of the argument here, which makes it all equally possible.

Having just pushed Halo 3 out the door, Bungie have shown they can deliver a compelling, tight FPS. It may not be the best at any one thing (graphics, play style, weapons, etc.) but the over-all package is a consumate piece of work.

Bungie may well be thinking they have the funds and the talent to try some new things, and could be seeking some more creative freedom. Or a more lucrative move to another big publisher? Or even expanding their platform support?

Clearly Microsoft's (foolish) demand that Halo 2 for the PC be a Vista-only game has caused a huge amount of damage, and I'm sure Bungie are looking with envious eyes at Epic and thinking "Hey, we could do that".

On the other hand, arguably a major part of the Halo franchise's success has come from the huge sums of money that Microsoft has poured into it. Unlike other publishers, Microsoft have a console ecosystem to support, which pretty much guarantees them bottomless pockets. Only Sony, and perhaps EA, could hope to match this sort of spend - and Sony are struggling financially.

The Xbox brand is a strong one, and one that Microsoft cannot walk away from. The run away success of the Wii has opened up some possibilities for developers who are willing to be innovate with the controller and play style. With more efficient components and new models, Microsoft have shown they can be agile and humble enough to add new models and change what doesn't work - a strict contrast to Sony.

The Xbox is clearly here to stay. The Wii could end up being a 'one hit wonder' for Nintendo, and the it's looking increasingly unlikely that Sony could fund a PS/3 successor.

Time will tell if this rumour pans out. It would certainly be a major upset to the gaming playing field if it happened, and with so many good reasons on either side, this could go either way.

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