MS responds to Bungie break-up rumours

via Eurogamer


Microsoft has distanced itself from rumours that it will be splitting with Halo developer Bungie, claiming it never said anything of the sort.

"There's been no such announcement," a spokesperson told us. "We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3."

The unsubstantiated claim came from a blog linked to the Seattle Post-Intelligence, which heard from an unidentified "friend in the know" that an announcement on the separation was imminent - apparently Bungie is fed up with just making Halo games.

But the holes in the evidence are vast and varied: the author of post that started it all is Jacob Metcalf (enjoying some publicity) who isn't a member of the usually reliable Seattle Post-Intelligence newspaper, which has consistently distanced itself from user-posted information in blogs.

It also takes a leap of faith to believe that the relationship between Bungie and Microsoft is as bad as this rumour suggests, what with Halo 3 breaking all sorts of records and receiving wide critical acclaim. MS is also the owner of the developer, so a split isn't as easy as it sounds.

Fishy, though, is a reluctance for both Bungie and Microsoft to officially rebuke the rumours and state outright that it isn't true.

We will let you know more when we do.