Bungie Software
From GameWiki
Summary
Bungie is an American video game developer founded in May 1991 under the name Bungie Software Products Corporation by two undergraduate students at the University of Chicago, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. Originally based in Chicago, the company concentrated primarily on Macintosh games during its first nine years of existence, producing the popular Marathon and Myth series as well as games such as Oni. In 2000, Bungie was acquired by Microsoft, and their current project Halo: Combat Evolved was turned into a first-person shooter and launch title for Microsoft's new Xbox game console. Halo went on to become the Xbox's "killer app", and the game and its two sequels have sold millions of copies.
On October 5, 2007, Bungie announced that it had split with Microsoft and become a privately held independent company, Bungie LLC. Despite splitting from its parent company, the studio will still be producing products for Microsoft. Bungie is now a second-party developer, currently based in Kirkland, Washington.
Among Bungie's side projects are Bungie.net, the company's official website, which includes forums as well as statistics-tracking and integration with Halo 3. Bungie also sells company-related merchandise and runs other projects including an official Bungie podcast and online publications about game topics. The company is well-known for its informal and dedicated workplace culture, and is currently working on an as-yet unknown project and Halo 3 downloadable content. They also helped develop some of World of Warcraft's characters and item sets
History
Bungie officially was founded in May of 1991 by Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. The origin of the name "Bungie" is the subject of conflicting answers. Many in the company treat it as a closely guarded secret, while a bonus disc provided in the Halo 3 Legendary Edition states the name is "the punchline to a dirty joke", the explanation has been used before by Bungie for other questions as explanations for other company secrets. According to the Marathon Scrapbook Seropian "agonized over what he would name his company, finally settling on 'Bungie' because 'it sounded fun.'"
The company's first game was called Gnop! (Pong spelled backwards) and was offered free of charge. The team focused on the Macintosh platform, not Windows-based personal computers, because the Mac market was more open and Jones had been raised on the platform. Following Gnop!, Bungie produced Operation Desert Storm, which went on to sell 2,500 copies, and the role-playing game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete in 1992.
Bungie next began working on their first 3D game, Pathways into Darkness, which was released in 1993. Pathways was produced by a two-man team consisting of Jones and his friend Colin Brendt. The game was a moderate hit, and attracted attention and money to the company. Bungie moved into their first studio soon afterwards; Martin O'Donnell remembered that the studio "smelled like a frat house" and reminded staff of a locale from the Silent Hill video games.
