Bungie (founded as Bungie Software Products Corporation) is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 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, producing the popular Marathon and Myth series; a West Coast offshoot produced the game console title Oni. Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000, and their then-current project, the first-person shooter Halo: Combat Evolved, was repurposed into a launch title for Microsoft's new Xbox console. Halo went on to become 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 with Microsoft and become a privately held independent company, Bungie LLC. In 2010, the company signed a ten-year publishing deal with Activision Blizzard .
Among Bungie's side projects are Bungie.Net, the company's official website, which includes forums as well as statistics-tracking and integration with many of their games. Bungie also sells company-related merchandise and runs other projects including an official Bungie podcast and online publications about game topics. The company is well-known for its informal and dedicated workplace culture, and is currently working on multiple projects, including their newest addition to the Halo series, Halo: Reach, and an unknown new IP.