From Microsoft to Sony: A Brief History of Bungie

Marathon

Founded in 1991 by two University of Chicago students, Bungie’s first few years reflect that of many game studios. Lots of smaller projects. The duo developed a number of games for Mac OS before landing on an IP which would shape the future of the company—Marathon.

Marathon is a name familiar to many Halo fans, given how it subtly features throughout the Halo franchise. Like the studio’s major releases since, Marathon was a first-person shooter set in a near future under threat by an alien invasion.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. That’s because Bungie have effectively been developing the same concept since Marathon released in 1994. Expanding on everything from the FPS mechanics to the immersive storytelling and, of course, the multiplayer components. All of which were truly groundbreaking back in the 1990s.

Halo and Microsoft Acquisition

Believe it or not, Halo: Combat Evolved was announced in 1999 to be a game developed for Mac OS. Yes, that’s right—it didn’t originally have anything to do with Xbox or Microsoft. But the game showed so much promise that in 2000 Microsoft acquired the company to become a subsidiary of the Microsoft Game Division.

This set Halo on the path to create the legacy we know it for today—one of the greatest, and most exclusive, Xbox gaming franchises which would go on to define the console from the original Xbox to the Xbox 360.

Halo would continue to grow over the 2000s to become the franchise of a generation—releasing Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3 all to increasing success.

But by 2007, Bungie had envisioned a new future for themselves.

Destiny and Going Independent

In 2007, Bungie announced that it would go independent. Striking a deal with Microsoft—who would continue to own the Halo IP—that would allow them to produce a totally new franchise. That franchise was announced years later as Destiny. While Destiny was developed within a 10-year deal with Activision, a key part of the deal was that Bungie would keep IP for the Destiny franchise.

This period saw Bungie create and release both Destiny and Destiny 2, which would welcome a new cross-platform audience to Bungie’s relatively unique style of gameplay. Growing their following in the process. If you’re still playing destiny 2 today, you can buy destiny 2 silver to get your hands on some of the best cosmetics!

Most importantly for Bungie, when the Activision deal expired, they kept all rights to Destiny. Meaning they have been totally independently developing and publishing expansions ever since.

Sony Acquisition

After their long association with Microsoft and Xbox, Sony’s acquisition of Bungie came as a shock to the gaming community. But in 2022, the deal went through for US$3.6 billion. Welcoming Bungie into the array of PlayStation-associated studios. Yet, fortunately for Bungie fans, they struck a deal to keep platform diversity—meaning that Bungie wouldn’t be locked into a Playstation-exclusive contract.

As part of the acquisition, Bungie promised to help Sony release 10 new projects by the end of 2026. While these most certainly aren’t all going to be Bungie exclusive games, there are two new projects on the horizon, for fans to be excited about. A reimagining of the game that made Bungie what it is—Marathon—and a yet untitled team action game.

While facts on these games are yet to become truly clear, what is clear is that Bungie is a studio that is still going strong, even after all these years.