As Bungie celebrates its 20-year anniversary and preps to send the Halo brand packing off to 343 Industries forever, the company’s marketing department has put together a letter saying all that obligatory stuff about how nice everybody is.

The full text is posted over on Bungie’s official site, but here are the important bits:

“Thank you for making our 20th Anniversary, and this year’s Bungie Day, kick so much ass. As we prepare to become fans of the universe our studio began creating more than ten years ago, it’s nice to know that we’ll be counted among such esteemed company. Some might consider the upcoming transition a bittersweet occasion punctuated by a sense of loss and sadness. We feel otherwise. Halo is in great hands…yours.

“Halo is yours now. In many ways, it always has been. Its new caretakers will strive, just as we did, to be worthy stewards but you have the package. Hold these characters and stories and worlds to the same unflinching standards you did while we were at the helm, but allow them all to blossom and change and grow in the ways that they must.

“We’ll be undergoing a metamorphosis of our own. Very soon Bungie.net will change, culminating with the launch of our next universe at some unknown time in the future. The first small steps will be taken soon, with Halo playlist management changing hands on August 2nd, the very same day we plan to deploy our parting thoughts on the last twenty years through a ViDoc titled, ‘O Brave New Worlds.’

“Afterwards, we’ll be going dark on our studio’s next major endeavor – the creation of a brand new universe. You’ll still have a home here should you choose to stay, but our next project demands an unwavering focus. We owe it to ourselves to make something better than we ever have before. We owe it to you, as well.

“So, this isn’t a goodbye. It isn’t The End. Instead, it’s the very beginning of a new journey that will stretch the limits of what we are capable of.”

Sniff.

The developer is probably best known for the Halo series, but before that was even invented, they were also responsible for Marathon, Marathon 2, Myth, and Oni. Hipster Gamer says you’ve probably never heard of them.

Bungie signed up with Activision in April last year ahead of its final Halo launch, and is currently working on an as-yet unannounced new IP.

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