[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] x Foman123 x [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] WileEAmerican Anyone ever think that maybe this was a part of the plan? Bungie would do the halo games then after that M$ would give them freedom. You know as a part of the orginal deal when they acquired Bungie. After all the x-box would have never survived with out halo and no one would have bought the 360 with out halo3. I know the only reason i got a 360 was because of H3. Now that Halo is over (as far as Bungie is concerned) they are going to go their separate ways.[/quote]No. A deal in a purchasing contract like that would have to be made public. Bungie may be a secretive company, but Microsoft's business dealings are subject to open scrutiny because Microsoft is a publicly owned company. Stuff like this just does not happen -- the implausibility of a deal like this is beyond comprehension. Some of you indicated that it might be possible if Bungie's entire creative team decided to band together and up-and-leave Bungie unless Microsoft gives Bungie its freedom. This would still not be enough. As long as Microsoft owns the Bungie name, it will make money -- regardless of who the creative team is, after Halo, any software title with the name "BUNGIE" on the cover is guaranteed to ship at least a million units, if not millions more. Bungie has the most fantastic software developers in the business, for sure, but the name Bungie is extremely valuable. Like I said before, any executive responsible for a secret deal simply releasing Bungie in exchange for some kind of bizarre deal would be burned by an angry mob of Microsoft shareholders. This is simply not the way the business world works. This rumor has no merit.[/quote] Exactly how long would Bungie's name power last after a crappy title? Unless MS turned Bungie into the next EA or Rockstar, the development times for a game would still be around 3 years. So in five or six years, would the name Bungie sell an easy million units when the only thing they've produced in half a decade is some mediocre shooter? If the rumor is correct, it would mean that MS makes money on Halo (Wars, the movie, Jackson's project, any future products), and being the publisher for Bungie would bring them money from future bungie games as well. (The rumored limit of 3-5 year publishing deal doesn't make much sense, considering that's barely enough for two games... at most 4, if Bungie worked on games concurrently). Also, how would your analysis change if the deal involved Bungie developing exclusively for MS consoles? If that were the case, I don't see how much of anything would change, as far as the pocketbooks are concerned. Except for that fact that MS would no longer be bearing the brunt of funding Bungie. Also, after two days, no announcement whatsoever? I know Microsoft moves slowly, but come on. If such a deal would be as abhorrent as you make it sound, wouldn't someone come up to make quell this whole thing before they into trouble? (Crap, I've got not time for proofreading, I hope that came out right.)