Microsoft and Bungie to 'evolve relationship'

The rumours have been going around for a little while now saying that Microsoft and Bungie will be going different ways and now those rumours have come to a head.

In a detail-sparse press release sent out just a few minutes ago, it has been announced that Bungie will 'evolve its relationship' with Microsoft. The press release doesn't actually say what that means though, just kind of rambles on about Halo 3 being awesome and selling loads of copies.

"Bungie Studios, the developers of the Halo franchise, will embark on a path to become an independent company. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie at the same time continuing its long standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft owned “Halo” intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie." Said the press release.

“Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in ‘Halo’ becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our ‘Halo’ entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the ‘Halo’ universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through ‘Halo’-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.”

So, Microsoft is fairly useless at giving out any specifics, but what about Bungie?

“We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond,” said Harold Ryan, Bungie's Studio Head.

So, PR spin aside, it seems like Bungie has bought itself out of Bill Gates' pocket and is now going solo, though it'll still be working on Halo games and Xbox titles. What a change.

Can you decipher this rhetoric and spin? Let us know in the forums.