I can’t believe the rumours were true.  I don’t know the full story behind the motivations and the details of the break-up, but it appears that Microsoft now owns a minority equity share in the new privately held company, Bungie LLC.  Microsoft retains rights to the Halo franchise, but Bungie is now free to do as they like.

Personally, I think this hurts Microsoft.  The teams that make your games are the best assets you can hold onto, and you can make much more money as a company when you’re the publisher, developer, and console manufacturer.  For all the talk, it would seem that Bungie felt that Microsoft was constraining their creative control over their products.  Just over a week after releasing the title that will put Microsoft’s Entertainment Division in the black for the first time, to announce the split is a bad image.  Still, it would looks like there’s not a lot of hard feelings, and the two companies will have a strong relationship in the future.  If the choice was between letting Bungie leave and maintaining a strong relationship or refusing and having your key players quit and start it anyway, losing that relationship, the former is obviously better.

So here’s to you Bungie, it was fun while it lasted, and hopes that you create in the future as many wonderful things as you had while you were here.

Note:  Everything said here is speculation, I don’t actually know anything. =)