Bungie Jumps

Michael Gartenberg | October 08, 2007, 09:44 AM

I was out when the news broke but it looks like the folks at Bungie are being set free by Microsoft. This news does come at a time when the Halo 3 launch proved the value of having a studio like Bungie. While it's a loss, no doubt, I don't think it will MSFT too hard. First, the real value in a company is the people it has. If they're not happy with the arrangement, they leave. Microsoft owning a shell called Bungie with all the talent gone isn't a recipe for success (looked what happened when the Palm leadership asked to be spun off from 3Com and the events that followed). It's far better to let them spin off on good terms and provide them the incentives they need to keep creating good titles for XBox. At the end of the day, as you know, the cemeteries are full of people who can't be replaced.