“you and me — just a memory of the way we used to be.”

Ok, by now you have most likely read about the rumored “split” between Microsoft and Bungie Studios. Rumors are nasty, they break hearts, and cause lots of problems, so personally — we would love nothing more than to get to the bottom of this.

At 5:30 PM EST, we put in a call to our contact at Microsoft’s PR Department in Seattle. After a short conversation here is what we can tell you. We were told first and foremost that things were very hectic the past few months due to the release of Halo 3 and that was a good thing.

We then asked about the Microsoft Bungie split and were told that they (Edelman) were well aware of the rumor. While the following we never said, we could detect a hint of “we knew this was coming” in our contacts voice.

To obtain further information we asked whether Microsoft was in the process of issuing any type of statement to address this rumor. We were told that it is their position not to issue comments regarding rumors and that the company is very happy with the sales of the game thus far.

We then attempted to contact Joseph Staten and Martin O’Donnell, two of three key members listed on Bungie Studio’s Wikipedia page. What did we find out? Well, we had spoken directly Joe in the past, and his answering message used to have him talking on it…now it does not. When we put a call in to Martin, we were greeted by a message where he refers to himself as “Marty” stating “This is Marty, you know what to do”.

In our previous conversations with Joseph we walked away with a very professional impression, thereby it would not surprise us at all that if he was in-fact gone, he would be the type of employee that would take the time to erase his recorded greeting. While we have never spoken to “Marty” before, his greeting to callers does not scream “meticulous and professional”.

That said, greetings for both Bungie employees are still accessible via the Microsoft phone number and Joseph has a Halo book due to be released this year as stated on his wikipedia page. Check back with us often as we plan on continuing to pursue this topic until it is resolved.

Tags: Bungie, Halo-3, Microsoft

• $300 Million in Halo 3 Sales; Bungie Leaving Microsoft?
• It’s Official: Bungie Cuts the Cord – Leaves Master Chief Behind
• Bungie Countdown Stopped By Microsoft
• Bungie Hint At Halo 3 Expansion, Not New Game
• Bungie Blue Balls, Courtesy of Microsoft
• GDC09: ODST Not the End of Halo 3 Content
• Rumor: Xbox Live Gold Members to Get Compensated For Down Time?
• Video Game Exclusivity – Giveth Today, Taketh Tomorrow…

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