14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since Bungie, the developer responsible for putting together the Halo franchise, and Microsoft, its publisher, have become separate commercial entities, rumors have been flying around that other publishers will be trying to sign Bungie to create a new intellectual property.
Since then, the team has put together Halo 3: ODST, the standalone expansion set to arrive in the fall and tell the story of a Shock Trooper that fights his way through New Mombasa, ands is now working on Halo: Reach, which is set to come sometime in 2010, so news of a complete separation from Microsoft has been greatly exaggerated.
But it seems that, while still being coy about its intentions, Bungie is working on a new project, not related in any way to Halo, and is talking to potential publishers about it. Ashley Cheng, a representative of Bethesda, has claimed on his blog that only the biggest forces in the gaming industry, like Activision, Bethesda, Sony and Microsoft, can afford the costs associated with the development of the new game. According to Cheng, a pairing with Sony, which is Microsoft’s archrival in the home gaming console market, is unlikely.
Part of the statement might be intended to increase the profile of he publishing arm of Bethesda, putting alongside those of Microsoft, Sony and Activision, as one of the big powers in the videogame industry, but the smoke of statements would not exist were it not for some sort of fire, probably made by Bungie, that has all the major publishers on the move.
Considering that Halo: Reach would probably arrive in late 2010, any other major Bungie-created title might only come out in late 2011 or 2012, which means that publishers could have some time to wait before seeing what the team can create after putting Halo to rest.