Xbox Head Phil Spencer Thinks Today’s Microsoft Could Have Kept Bungie Around

Xbox head Phil Spencer has revealed that he believes today’s Microsoft could have kept Bungie around. 

The following news is from AxiosAccording to, Spencer has explained why Bungie decided to leave Microsoft and become an independent company in a recent interview. He also said that in today’s Xbox ecosystem, Bungie might have stayed with Microsoft. 

“Could we [keep Bungie around] today? I think we could,” Spencer told Axios when asked if Bungie’s departure was inevitable. 

Spencer said that since Bungie’s departure, Xbox has learned a lot but understands why the studio left. 

“At the time, they had big ambitions,” Spencer said. “They had sold their business for a certain amount of money. They witnessed what Halo was. And it’s like, ‘Okay, Microsoft benefited more than Bungie did from the success of Halo.’ There’s no other story that can be written there.” 

Spencer stated that he fully understands the attraction of being independent. He cited Bungie’s likely feeling like they had another Halo-like franchise. 

“If you’re saying, ‘Hey, I think I’ve got another one of those in me. I want to really take another chance,’ I can understand the allure of doing that as an independent company,” the Xbox head said.

Bungie officially split with Microsoft in 2007, after it made several Halo games together. Bungie declared the separation from Microsoft on October 5, 2007, and stated that it was now an independent corporation. Microsoft was granted all rights to Halo (a 343 Industries-developed franchise) in the new division.

Three years later Bungie agreed to a 10-year Publishing Agreement with Activision. This would see Bungie’s popular Destiny franchise begin. Bungie became independent again in January 2019, when the studio revealed that it had terminated its publishing agreement with Activision early. Bungie seems to be determined to keep its independence. 

[Source: Axios]

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