Frank O'Connor quits Bungie
Going to Microsoft to work on Halo.
Writer Frank O'Connor has said he is quitting Bungie to continue working on the Halo brand at Microsoft.
"I am leaving you. I am off to work more closely with Microsoft on the Halo franchise, so I shan't be too far away, but I wanted to take this last chance, appropriately enough in a Weekly Update, to tell you a very fond thanks," wrote a teary-eyed "Frankie" on the official Bungie website.
"It was very hard for me to make the decision to move on, but one thing that made it just a bit easier was seeing the amazing work that's coming down the pipe. I was busy working on a story for one of our next games, an experience that is destined to surprise, amaze and entertain like nothing we've ever made before. That game has an amazing team invested in it, and one that will be tasked with building the Next Big Thing. You should see what they've already achieved, you truly should.
"And there are other things rumbling at Bungie, just as secret, just as epic and just as incredible. And the thing that turns all that rumbling into incredible gameplay experiences is, has always been and will always continue to be, the people. The brilliant, talented, industrious gang of geniuses who brought you everything from a monochrome Pong clone to the staggering vistas and vision of Halo 3," added O'Connor.
Frank O'Connor was lead writer at Bungie and oversaw everything from character and combat dialogue to board game scripts to weekly community updates.
He joined the developer after a background in games journalist, writing for Amstrad Action, Total! and Computer and Video Games, the paper one.
Bungie decided to break away from Microsoft and become independent last October, after the third Halo game and conclusion to the sci-fi trilogy had been released.
Microsoft will still retain an equity interest in the developer and continue create titles based on the Halo brand, such as Halo Wars from Ensemble and the Peter Jackson projects.
Pop over to the Bungie website for some snazzy photoshopped farewells to Frankie.