With the news of Bungie breaking away from Microsoft, lots of questions have surfaced as to why. Frank "Frankie" O’Connor, content manager at Bungie, gave his take on what happened to GameDaily in an exclusive interview.
O’Connor said that Bungie has always been free and easy and hinted that they weren’t exactly shirt and trousers type of people when compared to Microsoft. "We’ve always been independent minded and spirited. We’ve even had a separate office space and a remarkably loose dress code. Pants optional. About a year ago, we began negotiations (with Microsoft) to make all those aspects more official."
Is Bungie getting sick and tired of Halo as it has been reported on the Internet? "No. We love the Halo universe and still have projects going on within it, like the Peter Jackson collaboration and dowloadable content. If we ever return to the Halo universe, I’m sure we’d have cool stories to tell. The universe is, after all, infinite."
The heart of the matter regarding the move away from Microsoft seems to be the issue of personal freedom. O’Connor revealed, "…We were a part of MS and that meant adhering to their hiring policies, infrastructure and penchant for Khaki shorts and golf shirts. We still get the benefits of working closely with the platform team, the Xbox Live guys and the amazing talent at the mothership, but that slight loosening of reins will go a long way. Watch us gallop."
And as if to celebrate their new found independence, he said, "Honestly, this is going to be great for us, great for 360 and great for gamers."
Amen to that brother.
