Bungie: Activision's Role is "Hands-off"

Activision's ten-year publishing deal with Bungie will not affect the development outcome of upcoming projects, the Halo creator has said, stating that Bobby Kotick's team will have a completely "hands-off" approach.

"They really seem committed to agreeing that they are the publishers and they need to support in all the ways publishers support [titles]..." said composer Marty O'Donnell to IndustryGamers - presumably without taking a breath for air because he very quickly follows up with:

"...and they were looking for developers that were completely self-sufficient essentially - except maybe we need some money once in a while - but self-sufficient in terms of not needing to depend on them for production or development or some of these other things."

When asked if Activision will remain hands-off for the duration of the publishing agreement, O'Donnell seemed less certain but still unfazed. "They want a team that has a proven track record - a team that can go out and get it done. And so the hands-off nature of it is really appealing to us. Right now, maybe this is the honeymoon period, but it seems like the right thing for us at this time."

Time will tell...