14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Bungie has announced that it has now transferred all the Halo-related data and multiplayer services and is now saying goodbye to all the fans who have stood by the company while it was working on the shooter series.
The post on Bungie.net that says farewell to the fan community reads: “We have followed your careers with great interest here on Bungie.net, and you have gifted us a mountain of heroic moments to memorialize. It is with a sense of awe that we step back and admire the impact that you have had on our games, and upon our studio. Thanks for sharing your stories with us.”
Bungie has offered the servers for Halo multiplayer since the first game in the series, for almost eight years, and total play time has been estimated to have reached about 235,000 years.
The developers make a very revealing comparison, saying, “In the collective time you’ve spent playing Halo you could have travelled across the expanse of the Milky Way at the speed of light – and back. Thank you for being the brightest stars in our galaxy. Thank you for making Bungie.net your community home these many years.”
The fact that Bungie is no longer in charge of multiplayer and data tracking means that 343 Industries, the new entity created by Microsoft in order to handle the franchise, is in charge of all the elements of the Halo world.
Multiplayer services for all the older games will be maintained and 343 Industries is working on the development of Halo 4, an all-new title which will once again star Master Chief and his companion Cortana in a battle with new enemies.
At the same time, Bungie is working with Activision Blizzard on the development of a new gaming universe, presumably using shooter mechanics and a science fiction theme.