Was just about to post this. It looks like Bungie have bought themselves back from MS. MS will still retain the rights to Halo.

This is the only way I saw Bungie leaving MS. Notice the important part that reads "right of first refusal".

Bungie won't be making any PS3 or Wii games that MS doesn't want them to make. I knew there had to be something along those lines for MS to ever agree to this split.

It sounds like the guys at Bungie don't have any real beefs with MS, they just want a little more freedom and they're tired of Halo. After 6 years, that is understandable.

BTW, for everyone hoping for an Oni sequel as a result of this split, it ain't gonna happen. Take Two owns the Oni IP.

"Right of first refusal", is very different to "exclusive rights" - as is touched upon in the article. 

I think there's a fairly good chance you'll see multi-platform games from Bungie in the future - what we're a lot less likely to see are exclusives on the PS3 or Wii - which is what I believe MS are protecting themselves against with the "First Refusal" clause. 

And just what if...just what if Bungie decided to do Metroid...lol.

Right of first refusal gives MS the ability to publish any of Bungie's games, thereby making them exclusive if they choose.

Which is why I said "Bungie won't be making any PS3 or Wii games that MS doesn't want them to make".

I don't think this deal is so much about multi-platforming games as it is freedom for Bungie to create new IP. If MS still didn't control a significant portion of Bungie's publishing rights, they wouldn't allow this to happen.

It's really a win/win for both companies. MS doesn't have to worry about Bungie employees jumping ship to a third party (or creating a new company) while Bungie is allowed to distance themselves from the Halo franchise and work on some new properties, something that wouldn't happen under direct control of MS.

If that GI article is correct, Nintendo wouldn't do that otherwise MS would declare themselves publisher of the Metroid franchise and port it to 360. :D 

yep bungie will still tech be 2nd party for a bit, who knows how long though

Yeah, I don't really think this is such a bad thing, I think MS made out like bandits, they probably got a good chunk of change for the stock, still own the Halo franchise which will still be a cash cow, and most likely are going to get some new, great exclusives out of Bungie, or at least make money off of multiplat. games if they choose to.

This also is probably going to really help their bottom line this year, which gives them room to pricedrop if they need to, buy 3p exclusives, or buy another development company. At the very least, they'll make some investors happy.

 True, true.  Didn't think about that little statement.  Microsoft gearing up to step out of the hardware market?  Seems odd that Nintendo or Sony would allow a Microsoft published piece of software on their system.  Weird stuff.