Bungie Studios is a video game developer founded in 1991 under the name Bungie Software. It is the creator of the Marathon series, along with various other IPs.
History[]
Early History[]
For much of the 1990s, Bungie developed a series of increasingly technically detailed First-Person Shooter (FPS) games for the Macintosh, starting with Pathways into Darkness followed by the Marathon Trilogy. In a brief departure from FPS games, Bungie developed the acclaimed Myth tactical-combat series for both the Mac and Windows. Bungie games were particularly well-loved by players due to their complex backstories which often left more mysteries unexplained than revealed.
In 1999 they announced their next product was a return to the FPS genre, with a world-beating physics and AI system, to be known as Halo and to be released at the same time on both the Mac and Windows. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft announced that they had acquired Bungie Software and that Bungie would become a part of the Microsoft Game Division (subsequently renamed Microsoft Game Studios) under the name Bungie Studios. The original versions were soon delayed and the game was re-purposed for the Xbox, with the Mac and Windows versions only shipping two years later when it was no longer the renowned product it would have been in late 2000. The Xbox version of Halo received the Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year awards for 2002 from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, is known as a system seller and as of 2004 is still a videogame bestseller. Halo: Combat Evolved has been one of the most critically acclaimed games over the last three years, and its sequel Halo 2 has been called the "most anticipated game of all time" by IGN Xbox.
Their offices were originally based in Chicago, Illinois. After Microsoft's acquisition, they moved into the Microsoft Campus at Redmond, Washington. They later moved to Kirkland, Washington.
Recent History[]
On January 31, 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced its intent to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion. The acquisition closed on July 15th, 2022, officially making Bungie a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
One of the reasons Sony bought Bungie was that it could guide its studios in making live-service games. Bungie provided advice on The Last of Us Online.[1]
0n July 31st, 2024, Bungie laid off 17% of its workforce, citing rising development costs, industry shifts, and difficult economic conditions. 220 staff were laid off, with 155 of them integrated into Sony Interactive Entertainment.[2] As of September 2024, the majority of Bungie remains focused on Destiny 2, while a smaller team is working on Marathon.[3]
By October 2024, Sony's relationship with Bungie had shifted. While Sony had bought Bungie to provide advice on live-service games, by this point, Sony wanted Bungie to do so in official capacity. Bungie will continue to work on Destiny 2 and Marathon. By this point in time, Bungie had 850 developers working on both games[1]