Bungie president Harold Ryan announced that the studio will continue to develop games exclusively for Microsoft Xbox 360 and Windows for the foreseeable future. Although Bungie will be free to make games for other platforms such as Sony PS3 at some undisclosed time in the future, Ryan said his studio has no plans to do so.
The Settle Times has revealed new details of the circumstances that led up to the Bungie-Microsoft split:
Ryan said Bungie was "used to being able to look around the room and see Bungie people," and they "feel lost" inside of the much-bigger organization of Microsoft. "That desire to be independent is something that a significant number of the people on the team still felt lacking," said Ryan.
Tom Edwards, who worked for Microsoft on the first two "Halo" games, said the split had been inevitable since 2005. Edwards saw firsthand the friction between the two cultures. He recalled Bungie developers being resentful at Microsoft for having him assessing the studio's development.
Microsoft did not disclose the contractual terms with Bungie over the split, leaving analysts and observers to speculate. Even as they go separate ways, Microsoft will continue to invest in Bungie, collaborate on projects with Bungie, and publish games from Bungie.
