Lets look at FASA and Bizarre, the other two developers people keep flinging around, and how those situations are not like Bungie's whatsoever. FASA: Their last good game was Crimson Skies. Shadowrun was a mess during development and MS wasted millions on it. They aren't a AAA developer and weren't exactly in the process of making any outstanding titles. MS closing down FASA was simply an act of cutting losses. Keeping them around would have been bad business wise and not exactly a plus to gamers. Bizarre: They are their own development house, commissioned by MS to make PGR. They like making racing games so they accepted the contract. MS had never had a stake in the company itself, only the PGR franchise in which they financed. Another publisher obviously offered them more (Activision) to make racers for them and it made financial sense to Bizarre to part with MGS. Now for the Bungie rumour. It's simply BS. MS wholly owns Bungie and all current Bungie trademarks (in particular - Halo). Yes, development staff can leave the studio to form their own (ala Rare when people left for Free Radical) but the company itself, along with Halo, isn't going anywhere. Thinking otherwise is beyond retarded. The only way Bungie could part with MS is if the company was actually sold off, and really, there is absolutely zero reason MS would even fathom doing that. Bungie is not an independent company like Bizarre, it's a part of MGS. And unlike FASA, Bungie actually makes games that sell. These are the reasons that this is just a rumour.