Bungie

Bungie is a developer and publisher.

Bungie Webpage, Facebook

An American video game developer (and initially publisher), specializing in development for consoles and PC. The company currently employs over 750 people and is headed by Pete Parsons. Among the most notable titles developed by this team are the Halo and Destiny series, as well as the first two installments of the once-popular Myth series. Since January 31, 2022, Bungie has been owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

History of Bungie

The 1990s, or prehistory

The long history of Bungie dates back to the early 1990s, when Alex Seropian, a University of Chicago graduate, created his first game. It was a clone of the legendary Pong called Gnop!, which he distributed for free. In 1991, he decided to found Bungie Software Products Corporation; its first game, Operation: Desert Storm, sold 2,500 copies. Shortly thereafter, Seropian met Jason Jones, an experienced programmer who was at the time converting his own creation, Minotaur, from Apple II to Macintosh computer. The two quickly found common ground, and the aforementioned game was published by Bungie in 1992 as Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete – Jones handled the coding, Seropian focused on publishing.

Sales of this title, reaching 2,500 copies, not only cemented Bungie's market position but also ensured that the company would target Apple computers exclusively for years to come. Minotaur's success allowed the two developers to look to the future with optimism and focus on a new project. This time, Jones was inspired by Wolfenstein 3D – the programmer developed his own technology for generating three-dimensional graphics. After some time, the original plans to port Minotaur to three dimensions were abandoned, and the studio began work on Pathways into Darkness, a first-person shooter that hit store shelves in 1993. The title was warmly received by players and reviewers, winning a number of prestigious awards. The sales provided Jones and Seropian with enough money to not only move into a full-fledged office but also hire another person – Doug Zartman, who joined the team in 1994 and later became responsible for public relations.

Road to fame

Given the critical acclaim of Pathways into Darkness, the developers naturally wanted to make a sequel. However, over time, the project began to evolve, ultimately transforming into another FPS – Marathon. Like Bungie's earlier production, Marathon boasted a complex story; moreover, the title introduced a number of mechanics to the genre that would become a norm for years to come, including the so-called "rocket jump" (then known as "grenade hopping") and the ability to look vertically with a mouse. The game debuted shortly before the 1994 holiday season, and as an Apple alternative to PC-exclusive titles like Doom and System Shock, it was a resounding success – suffice it to say that the team had to partner with an outside company to keep up with orders. Marathon's strong sales prompted the developers to make a sequel, which debuted on November 24, 1995, breaking the sales records set by its predecessor. Compared to the first game, its sequel featured, e.g. a cooperation mode. Much to the dismay of die-hard Apple fans, the title was soon released on Windows 95 in 1996. That same year, the trilogy concluded with Marathon Infinity. Interestingly, looking at everything from today's perspective, at first glance, Marathon seems like a spiritual predecessor to the Halo series.

The team decided to take a break from the FPS genre and work on a strategy game. That game was Myth: Fallen Lords, released in July 1997. Unlike most typical RTS games, players didn't have to worry about resources during the game – the core gameplay was skirmishes with enemy units, and victory depended, e.g. on the development of soldiers by accumulating experience on the battlefield. The game also offered high-quality graphics. All this led to it being as warmly received as the studio's previous works. Interestingly, it was the first Bungie game released simultaneously on PC and Mac.

That same year, the studio opened its second branch, Bungie West, in California. This team's only work would turn out to be Oni, an action game inspired by anime films, led by the cult classic Ghost in the Shell. Players took on the role of an agent tasked with infiltrating a crime syndicate and taking it down from within. In 1998, we got the second installment in the Myth series, subtitled Soulblighter. Shortly before its release, some copies of this game were found to have a bug that could erase the entire contents of the hard drive on which the game was installed, leading to massive order cancellations by retailers. Nearly a million dollars loss put the company's financial stability in question.

The Halo era

Despite this, in 1999, the studio presented its next work. It was Halo, a first-person shooter developed for PC and Apple computers. Shortly thereafter, in June 2000, Microsoft announced that Bungie Software had become part of Microsoft Game Division and changed its name to Bungie Studios. Halo, which in the meantime got a subtitle Combat Evolved, was slated to be a launch title for Microsoft's first console - Xbox. However, the parent company allowed the California-based team to complete work on the aforementioned Oni, which was published by Take-Two Interactive. Halo: Combat Evolved was released in 2001, becoming the system seller of the original Xbox; the title sold six and a half million copies, spawning a new, cult franchise. In 2003, the game was also released on PC.

In 2002, the company's founder, Alex Seropian, left the company and two years later founded another studio, Wideload Games. Harold Ryan took over his position. It's worth noting that in 2012, when Seropian's company was already owned by Disney, he decided to found another studio, Industrial Toys, specializing in creating mobile games.

But let's return to the history of Bungie Studios. After the release of Halo: Combat Evolved, the team dedicated itself to creating a sequel, which was released on Xbox and PC in 2004. Halo 2's opening-day revenue exceeded $125 million, a long-standing industry record.

After the release of the second installment of Master Chief's adventures, the studio began developing the third game in the series, which was scheduled to debut on Microsoft's second console, Xbox 360. Halo 3 hit store shelves in September 2007, grossing over $170 million in its first twenty-four hours. Shortly thereafter, on October 1, 2007, the studio announced that it had regained its independence. However, the rights to the Halo franchise were to remain with Microsoft. Bungie and Microsoft were not yet parting ways – the studio would collaborate with the publisher, delivering subsequent games in the series, and eventually also assist other developers creating subsequent installments of Master Chief's adventures.

In 2008, after regaining its independence, Bungie announced its next game set in the Halo universe – Halo 3: ODST – the first game in the series not to feature Master Chief as its main character. The title was released a year later; in 2010, the last game in the series developed by Bungie – Halo: Reach – had its premiere. After its release, work on subsequent installments in the series was entrusted to 343Industries, allowing Bungie to focus on its next major project.

A "ten-year" partnership with Activision-Blizzard

After the release of Halo: Reach, Bungie began to grow in size – from May 2008 to June 2009, it hired forty-five new employees. Consequently, the decision was made to transform a theater building in Bellevue into a new headquarters, nearly twice the size of its previous bureau. In April 2010, it was revealed that the team had signed a cooperation agreement with Activision-Blizzard, under which the company would publish its subsequent works for ten years. Interestingly, after the contract expired, the rights to the new IP created by the developers were to remain in their hands – unlike the iconic Halo.

That then-enigmatic production turned out to be the multiplayer-focused Destiny, released on Sony and Microsoft's consoles in September 2014. Destiny was a resounding success, gaining legions of devoted fans worldwide. In January 2016, Harold Ryan left the studio, handing over his duties to Pete Parsons as company president.

During his tenure we got Destiny 2, which was incredibly well-received, debuting on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2017, and receiving a PC port a month later. The game introduced a number of improvements and new features, addressing most of the complaints players had about the first installment. The developers offered players a more expansive story campaign and a variety of side activities. The game world was also significantly expanded in size, and the audiovisuals were top-notch.

It's worth noting that the Destiny series significantly contributed to the popularization of the game-as-a-service distribution model, where developers were aiming to ensure the game's longevity. This means that after purchasing a specific title, gamers can count on long-term support from the developers in the form of updates, paid or free add-ons, and special events.

Although Bungie and Activision-Blizzard promised a ten-year partnership in 2010, they parted ways sooner, in January 2019. One of the main reasons for this was the developer's inability to sustain player interest in the second Destiny, which resulted in lower-than-expected revenue. Bungie acquired full rights to its flagship franchise, and the "fresh start" was supposed to be secured by a $100 million cash infusion from the Chinese company NetEase. On October 1, 2019, Destiny 2 transitioned to a free-to-play model and debuted on Steam (previously, the PC version was only available on Battle.net).

In the following years, the studio focused on the development of Destiny 2. The game received a number of expansions and was ported to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Furthermore, in February 2021, plans were announced to open a new branch of the company – in Amsterdam – and create a project representing an entirely new IP, which was to debut by 2025.

Transfer to Sony

On January 31, 2022, it was announced that the studio transferred to Sony Interactive Entertainment. The deal was worth $3.6 billion. Bungie was to retain full independence, and the studio's leadership would retain their current positions. Furthermore, the team was to continue developing multiplatform titles.

Over the following months, the studio developed Destiny 2, creating the expansions The Witch Queen (February 2022), Lightfall (February 2023), and The Final Shape. The latter was announced in May 2023 during the PlayStation Showcase, when Bungie unveiled another project: Marathon, a new, multiplayer-focused game set in the cult classic shooter series from 1994. As previously promised, the latter was slated for release not only on PlayStation 5 but also on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

In the fall of 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment underwent a major shakeup. In late October 2023, Jason Schreier, an industry journalist known for revealing behind-the-scenes information, revealed that the consequences of the changes also affected Bungie, where widespread layoffs were planned. According to unofficial reports, around 100 people were to leave their positions, with the direct cause of the layoffs being a drastic 45% drop in revenue compared to the previous year. This state of affairs was primarily blamed on the declining popularity of Destiny 2 and the problematic development of The Final Shape. Shortly thereafter, some of these reports were confirmed by the studio, specifically by Pete Parsons. Bungie's CEO confirmed that some studio members had lost their jobs, but he did not disclose the exact number.

At the end of January 2024, we received further disturbing news regarding Bungie. Joe Blackburn, the director of Destiny 2, revealed that he would be leaving the studio. Tyson Green, who previously worked on PvP modes in the Halo series, was expected to take over.

Deepening the relationship with Sony

June brought the release of Destiny 2: The Final Shape, the culmination of the "Light and Darkness" saga. At the end of July, news broke that Bungie would undergo another major layoff wave, with 220 people losing their jobs. This layoff was also expected to deepen the studio's relationship with its parent company, Sony Interactive Entertainment; as a result, 155 studio employees were to be transferred directly to the Japanese publisher, while one of Bungie's unannounced projects was to be transferred to the newly formed team at PlayStation Studios.

Jeff Grubb, known for his behind-the-scenes industry info, reported shortly thereafter that, following the implementation of the changes described above, Hermen Hulst (head of Studio Business Group at Sony Interactive Entertainment) effectively became Bungie's head; in his opinion, the studio itself would now begin to lose its autonomy.

As if that weren't enough, unofficial reports surfaced in August that the Marathon project was to be delayed. Jason Schreier reported that his sources at Bungie were "pessimistic" about meeting the target of delivering the game by the end of 2025. Furthermore, just over two weeks later, Chris Barrett, the project's director, was fired from Bungie. Bloomberg reported that the veteran developer (who had worked at Bungie since 1999) allegedly behaved inappropriately toward his female colleagues, attempting to blur the line between his professional and personal lives.

In July 2024, more high-ranking employees left the studio. These included Creative Director Jonny Ebbert and Chief Strategy Officer Ondraus Jenkins. Furthermore, in October 2024, Bungie's creative department was integrated into PlayStation Studios.