Breaking News: Bungie inks deal with Activision [Update]

So Bungie made this "Halo" game some time ago and it became popular. After spending eight or so years being owned by Microsoft they cut ties and are now free to make their own mistakes choices.

Activison Blizzard is one of the industry's mega corporations, recently infamous for their struggles with and eventual firing of Infinity Ward upper management and the mass exodus of employees there after.

Harold Ryan, President of Bungie tries to explain, "We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise. From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences." - Yeah and taking your money.

"Our Constitution remains unchanged. We are still Bungie, still independent, and now we are free to bring our stories to an ever bigger audience," the statement continued. "Once the smoke clears, all the pieces will finally be in place for Step 7. Don’t worry, though. We won’t let World Domination go to our heads. We’re gonna keep making kick ass games on our own terms, and since you’ve been so supportive throughout the years, we’d love to bring you along for the ride."


[Update] It has been reported that Bungie's next project will be released for "every" console. We kinda saw that coming, didn't we?

[source]

Activision to "broaden" Call of Duty's audience.

Thomas Tippl, Activision's CEO and CFO says, "Today, we have three studios working on Call of Duty. We have Infinity Ward, which made Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Then we have Treyarch, which will be releasing a Call of Duty game in the fall of 2010. Treyarch also developed Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 3. And, most recently, we've added Sledgehammer in the Bay Area. We haven't yet announced the content of their game, but it's going to be an innovative take that will further broaden the audience for Call of Duty."

The history of the Call of Duty franchise proves that Infinity Ward is really the only team that can get the formula right. Treyarch even borrowed heavily from Call of Duty 4's recipe when they made World at War, but unfortunately that game is better known for being able to shoot Nazi Zombies than it was for multiplayer. The creation of Sledgehammer (former Dead Space leads Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey) leads me to believe a "third person action" Call of Duty is in the works. Ugh.