News

Bungie 'probably' exiting Halo franchise, new IP deal 'close'

Developer says Halo: Reach will likely be its sci-fi series swan song; senior designer Lars Bakken thinks new publishing agreement will be closed "sometime soon."

When Halo: Reach's mysterious trailer debuted at last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, it generated a lot of interest. The rabid fan base of the sci-fi series was intrigued by its apocalyptic imagery, which recalled Eric Nylund's novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. A prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the book depicted the cataclysmic battle on the fortress world of Reach, where series hero Master Chief and other heavily armored Spartan troopers fight off a Covenant invasion.

Now, a new revelation will increase interest in Halo: Reach even more. Speaking with British-based game site CVG over the weekend, Bungie senior designer Lars Bakken was asked if Halo: Reach was the studio's final Xbox 360 Halo game. "In terms of a platform for Halo games made by Bungie, yes," he responded.

However, Bakken quickly cautioned that that doesn't mean the Halo franchise is going away. "I can't answer that question for Microsoft, though," continued the designer. "Whether they have something in the works or not, I don't know if they're actually ready to talk about it yet. But in terms of Bungie-produced Halo games, ODST and then Reach is probably all you're going to get."

When asked for further clarification, Microsoft deferred to Bungie, which had not responded to requests for comment as of press time. However, if confirmed, the move would sever one of the links between the studio that created Halo and Microsoft, from which it broke away in summer 2007. Microsoft still retains a minority ownership stake in Bungie, and the shop is working on several unannounced projects.

[UPDATE] As for Bungie's mystery projects, one of which is reportedly an all-new IP, Bakken said the Suburban Seattle shop is on the verge of signing a deal with an unnamed publisher. "I think internally, we'll know sometime soon," he told Eurogamer. "I don't handle these things, but I'd imagine we're going to know way before we make the public announcement of who's handling that! But sure, I think those talks are, I guess, close."

As for Halo, Microsoft has announced that not only will the franchise not be going away, but it is also expanding into other media. One of the big stories out of last week's Comic-Con in San Diego was the unveiling of 343 Industries, an entire Microsoft division devoted to Halo games, products, and licensing. The previously rumored label's first project will be Halo: Legends, an Animatrix-style anime compilation from such studios as Production I.G. (the original Blood: The Last Vampire) and Studio4˚C (Tekkonkinkreet). Notable anime directors Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) will also be working on the project.

198 Comments

  • jeffv541

    Posted Oct 22, 2009 3:09 pm PT

    Halo has a new line of gumballs coming out soon, all you fanboys better preorder...

  • spartanwrath

    Posted Oct 8, 2009 10:37 pm PT

    bungie no longer making halo? it almost makes me want to cry.

  • Ultramarinus

    Posted Oct 8, 2009 9:49 pm PT

    IMO they need to re-acquire the rights to Myth series from Take Two and resurrect that franchise. It's still a strategy legend and the setting has immense potential for off-shoots into several other genres.

  • Sin-Thesis

    Posted Oct 8, 2009 6:48 pm PT

    i dont like the direction halo is going in, it will be interesting to see how much repetitive drivel they can churn out with the halo name attached before the rabid fanboys grow out of their blind loyalty to the franchise

  • habstown

    Posted Aug 28, 2009 11:31 pm PT

    This franchise is just too popular and successful for bungie to walk away from imo. It was said that Halo 3 was their last game. Well have to wait and see after 2010 what is on the way.

  • ShadowXStorm

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 5:49 pm PT

    Unleash plan Mega Super Spartan Kicks Covenant A$$!!

  • usedaw

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 8:10 am PT

    i doubt this will be the last halo game Bungie makes Microsoft will probably find some other company to make the next Halo or Bungie will eventually come back in 5 or ten years and do another one i seriously doubt they will walk away from this series forever.

  • TrojanLB48

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 2:26 pm PT

    So we might never know what happens to the Chief after Halo 3?

  • Rummy500

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 8:05 pm PT

    It has been fun. But, Its time for the series to be put to rest. Before it is completlybeaten to death.

  • McGregor

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 2:27 pm PT

    I hope that microsoft doesn't squeeze the life out of the halo series. As of right now halo is a successful franchise. If it ended now it would go down in history books as a great franchise, although it appears that microsoft has other plans...

  • dreamofwakeing

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 8:52 pm PT

    i think halo is great as a series and i'm excited to see what they bring to the table with reach. the book fall of reach was outstanding and as long as there's no flood this time around, the game should be too.

  • Commisar123

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 7:03 pm PT

    Hey Halo is a good shooter franchise I'm excited to see what they will come up with next

  • Chrysus

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 3:06 pm PT

    Microsoft owning a stake in Bungie doesn't guarantee a 360 exclusive in the future. Remember that Sony owns 20-30% of Square Enix and they have been giving the 360 exclusive games and a port of Final Fantasy XIII

  • Alter_Echo

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 2:23 pm PT

    This is actually good news. All of the followups could very well have been expansion packs to the first game and nobody would have been able to tell the difference.

  • starduke

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 1:21 pm PT

    Well, I hope whatever Bungie makes that's new is good.

  • aaronfilmltd

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 12:36 pm PT

    Halo was a fantastic game in its time, and while the sequels really expanded the story, weapons and characters, they had essentially the exact same feel and gameplay as their predecessors. I'm actually far more interested in seeing a new IP from Bungie than another Halo. It seems like after Halo 3, the whole thing was starting to get a bit stale.

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 11:01 am PT

    ODST was a real chance for Bungie to shake-up the Halo games and make something new and fresh and exciting. Instead it looks like they've just re-packaged Halo 3 and added some pointless silenced weapons. ODST doesn't even have its own competitive multi-player.

    I'm glad Bungie is finished with Halo. Maybe someone will take over who has the ability to give the franchise the face-lift it desperately needs.

  • Rex100

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 10:21 am PT

    I think it's a good thing Bungie is doing other things. Halo was good, but they really milked everything out of that franchise. I hope they make something far greater than halo.

  • XanderZane

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 8:10 am PT

    Letmekilluplz

    I hope Halo dies out, too much of a good thing. I always feel bad for the people who are so obsessed with Halo that they miss games like Mass Effect of Saints Row series. People need to branch out more than just playing Call of Duty and Halo.
    *********************************************************************
    I wonder the same thing about people obsessed over Mario, Final Fantasy, MSG, Gran Turismo, Zelda etc.... All those franchises have been around a lot longer then Halo.

  • XanderZane

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 8:08 am PT

    Halo Legends is going to be sick. They actually got some of the best Japanese anime creators working on it. I hope they include a copy in the Halo: Reach collectors edition. lol!! That would be awesome. ***************************************************************************
    sj_nehama

    i mean, i will never get why M$ kicked out bungie. Am sure other studio will work on Halo, but it wont be the same thing. It was bungie who made Halo what is today, not Microsoft.
    _________________________________________________
    Microsoft didn't kick Bungie. The studio's contract was up and they decided not to resign. Bungie wants to work on new IP's, so that's why they left. Don't be surprised if Naughty Dog does the same thing to Sony in the near future. No different they Rare leaving Nintendo or SquareEnix leaving Nintendo and Sony. Chances are good that some of the Bungie's developers will go and work on the 343 Industries studio with Microsoft. I'm sure Microsoft as already thought through everything in advance.

advertisement

Latest Comic-Con 2009 Highlights: X360

See more X360 highlights »