MacRumors.com

Confirming rumors circulating earlier this week, Microsoft announced today that Bungie Studios will be spun off into a privately held company in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest.

Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 as a Mac game developer, but in 2000 was bought by Microsoft who launched Bungie's Halo as an exclusive title for Microsoft's Xbox. The Halo franchise has seen enormous success, with Halo 3 launching with record sales numbers.

Comments by Bungie to Macworld indicate that while Bungie will continue to focus on the Xbox, they open up the possibility of returning to the Mac platform.

"But sure, now that we're branching of and controlling our destiny, that puts us in a position where we could put ourselves back on the [Mac] platform definitively again," said Jarrard.