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Bungie, Inc., is an American video game developer located in Bellevue, Washington, U.S.. The company was established in May 1991 as Bungie Software Products Corporation by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Originally based in Chicago, Illinois, the company concentrated primarily on Macintosh games during its early years and created two very successful video game franchises called Marathon and Myth. A West Coast offshoot produced the PC and console title Oni.
Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000; the project it was working on was repurposed into a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox console, called Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo became the Xbox's "killer application", selling millions of copies and spawning a billion dollar franchise.
On October 5, 2007, Bungie announced that it had split from Microsoft and become a privately held independent company, Bungie LLC. The company later incorporated and signed a ten-year publishing deal with Activision Blizzard.
Among Bungie's side projects are Bungie.net, the company's official website, which includes company information, forums, and statistics-tracking and integration with many of its games. Bungie.net also serves as the platform from which Bungie sells company-related merchandise out of the Bungie Store and runs other projects, including Bungie Aerospace, its charitable organization, the Bungie Foundation, a podcast, and online publications about game topics. The company is known for its informal and dedicated workplace culture, and is working on multiple projects with Activision, starting with a new IP under the name Destiny.
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