Why Bungie and Microsoft Parted Ways
After revolutionizing the console shooter genre together, the video game developer behind Halo – Bungie – shocked the gaming world when it split from Microsoft in 2007. Many fans were asking: why would Bungie leave its hugely successful creation behind? This article explains the fundamental reasons behind this surprise breakup.
Creative Differences Over Halo‘s Future
First and foremost, Bungie parted ways with Microsoft due to key creative differences over the future of the Halo franchise. While Microsoft wanted more Halo games to capitalize on the IP‘s immense popularity, Bungie itself wanted to move on creatively.
"We were ready to get away from Halo…and Microsoft was ready to go forward with the franchise without us," said Harold Ryan, Former Bungie president.
After focusing relentlessly on this single IP since 2001, developing 3 main titles and expansion packs, creative stagnation had set in. Bungie‘s passionate team of 500 developers were bursting with fresh ideas they wanted to realize.
Halo had also been exhaustively mined – its lore expanded, gameplay polished. As IGN‘s Ryan McCaffrey observed: "there was a sense that Bungie felt that there was nowhere else to take Master Chief‘s story".
But Microsoft saw abundant room for growth and had no intentions of relinquishing its cherished Xbox mascot. This tug of war over Halo‘s future direction directly led Bungie to sever ties.
The Desire to Stand Independent
Additionally fueling Bungie‘s breakaway was its ambitions to stand on its own instead of functioning as a Microsoft subsidiary.
Bungie has always prized independence. The studio deliberately avoided acquisition offers before teaming up with Microsoft in 2000. It negotiated a contract ensuring it would remain separate from Microsoft‘s internal studios.
But over time, unavoidable complexities arose from this relationship model that frustrated Bungie. Oversight from Microsoft publishing created limitations, even as the developer‘s confidence swelled.
"We were ready to become an independent studio again," Harold Ryan explained.
And the numbers backed up this confidence. Early Halo games sold enormously well:
| Game | Copies Sold | Revenue (Est) |
|---|---|---|
| Halo CE | 6.43 million | $193.2 million |
| Halo 2 | 8 million | $320 million |
| Halo 3 | 14.5 million | $383.9 million |
With scintillating Metacritic scores between 95-97, Bungie established itself as an industry leader. The studio felt ready to take its destiny into its own hands rather than remain tethered to Microsoft.
Internal Culture Clash
Bungie‘s uniquely free-flowing creative culture also sat awkwardly within Microsoft‘s business-oriented structure, causing destabilizing tensions.
Whereas Microsoft ran a corporate operation focused on strategic planning and maximizing profits, Bungie fostered an informal, creative environment where developers could play ping pong amidst open plan offices.
This culture proved astonishingly successful – there‘s no doubting the brilliance produced. But it wasn‘t always easy for Microsoft to reconcile Bungie‘s idiosyncrasies with standardized management frameworks.
Industry experts highlight how these colliding philosophies created rifts:
"There was always tension between the creative freedom that Bungie had gotten used to and what a big corporation like Microsoft expects," said Frank O‘Connor, Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries.
"Bungie are a handful to deal with," an anonymous Xbox executive told Kotaku. “They are so controlling when it comes to their games.”
For Bungie to fully spread its wings, leaving the Microsoft nest made logical sense.
After the Divorce
When the split went ahead in 2007 – with Microsoft retaining all rights to the Halo IP – reactions were mixed. Some anxious fans feared it marked the beginning of the end for Master Chief. And Halo 3 was still unfinished, leaving the franchise in limbo.
Yet the results ultimately proved beneficial for both parties. Microsoft established 343 Industries to steward the series, which has thrived with installments like Halo Reach (2010) rated 9/10 on IGN.
Bungie meanwhile released Destiny in 2014, an original shared world shooter that melded the studio‘s trademark combat with MMO elements. Selling 6.3 million copies in month one, it was hailed as the "biggest new IP launch ever". Destiny 2 (2017) built admirably on this foundation, cementing Bungie‘s fortunes post-Microsoft.
Though no longer united, both Microsoft and Bungie continue prosperous journeys in the gaming universe they helped transform through pioneering works like Halo, proving creative divorces can yield new life.
