14 DAY TRIAL // Video-game developer Bungie has said that the widely reported announcement made at the Game Developers Conference that it was working on a massive multiplayer online game was not a confirmation on the part of the company but only a joke that played on recent rumors about the work the company was doing.
Rumors about an MMO first-person shooter coming from Bungie have been doing the rounds on the Internet for the last few weeks and the developer did not offer any comment before the rather surprising reveal at the GDC.
The company says, “in rehearsal Aldridge was convinced that everybody got the joke. It was all in the delivery, he assured us, and he was certain it was clear that he was playfully riffing off of the recent rumors. Unfortunately, most people can’t figure David out – they can’t process him.”
Bungie might be trying to do some damage control after revealing something that the public was not supposed to know before later in the year or the company might actually be joking at the expense of its fans and might announce a very different video game announcement later, possibly at E3.
A statement posted on the official Bungie website says “We are not building map packs for Halo: Reach and we’re not working on any engine modifications, with code pressed tightly to metal.”
But the team says that even as their involvement with Reach is drawing down they are making sure that the people at Microsoft and at the new developer 343 Industries that are taking over have all the information and the tools to continue delivering new maps and other new content for the latest Halo release.
Bungie again talks about hiring more people for its new project, which is being developed with publisher Activision as part of their new 10-year deal.