Bungie's Non-Halo Projects Swept Aside

Bungie revealed that part of the reason it sought its independence from Microsoft was the pressure to keep making Halo games. Speaking with Variety, Bungie CEO Harold Ryan revealed that Bungie had several original projects in development, but these were swept aside when Microsoft asked them to focus on Halo.

"We were always in pre-production and concepting future titles while developing current ones. With a small break, the studio was always moving onto one or two new games when shipping another. We had several internal game pitches that went to playable game prototypes that were non-Halo games and non-first person shooters. They either weren't compelling enough or the monster that was Halo needed all the resources, so they were set aside."

Ryan also revealed that it was never Bungie's intention to make more than one Halo game: "It certainly wasn't our goal to make two more versions." Ryan also acknowledged that the pressure of being asked to focus on the Halo franchise was one of the reasons Bungie became independent.

"[One] reason was the pressure to stick with Halo. We can still make Halo games and we still are working on Halo games. But there is more latitude for us to put our focus on other IP, other universes, other things. We wanted to get that push back where we could feel we're going to really lay it on the line and push to come up with the next best thing in entertainment. It feels better to do that as an indie."

So while everyone now knows that Bungie is indeed working on another Halo game, we also now know that Bungie can and will make other, original games. I, for one, cannot wait to see what they produce.

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