Microsoft Has Tried to Buy Bungie Multiples Times Says Insider

Guillermo Ortega

According to former Game Informer Editor Imran Khan, Microsoft is trying to get Bungie back into Xbox Game Studios. This was affirmed in a recent podcast, where Khan and Jeff Grubb analyzed the expensive and difficult process of keeping Xbox’s Game Pass well stocked.

Is important to mention that Microsoft used to own Bungie, the studio developed the first five Halo games, but Bungie deciced to be an independent developer and work for a new IP. With the help of Activision, Bungie produced Destiny and Destiny 2, but according to Marty O’Donnell, Bungie co-founder, and former executive, the Bungie-Activision partnership was “bad from the start”.

O’Donnell suggests that Activision was the perfect publisher because it allowed them to retain the IP. Bungie did not want to go through a similar experience as they had with Halo. NetEase invested $100 million into Bungie in 2018, in exchange for a minority stake in the company and a seat on the company’s board of directors.

After the separation with Activision, Microsoft is said to have approached Bungie multiple times, however, Bungie’s hierarchy seems to be asking much more money than Xbox is willing to offer to get the developer back into their first-party studios.

Imran Khan suggests that Xbox Game Pass will feature a big AAA project, this new addition to Game Pass will feature all of its expansions.

Fans, intrigued by the claims of Imran are expecting Destiny 2: Beyond Light to be featured for Xbox Series X/S on Game Pass, however, Xbox has confirmed that Destiny 2 will arrive on Game Pass but only with the Shadowkeep and Forsaken expansions. A second theory can also point at CD Projekt RED’s new RPG, Cyberpunk 2077.

Xbox Game Pass is crucial for Xbox’s Series X/S launch, both Imran and Grubb are teasing that Microsoft has still more exciting news to share in the following weeks.

Update

Bungie’s CEO Pete Parson has dismissed the rumors of a possible negotiation with Microsoft, other Bungie employees are referring Khan and Grubb’s claims as ‘gossip’.