BUNGIE WATCH: Community Theatre Edition

bungie-watch

Yes, it’s that time once again.  A new edition of Bungie Watch is at hand.  And while the seemingly endless night which has shrouded the Seattle developer in darkness for years has yet to yield, it is all but certain that dawn is about to break.  Read on for the details.

Bungie has been in stuck in quite a conundrum these last few years.  They spent a decade building a reputation of openness and engagement with its community which was unparalleled in the video game industry.  But after relinquishing the future of Halo to Microsoft to start work on an entirely new universe, they went dark.  They decided to not unveil their next creation, most likely titled Destiny, until it was nearly done.  So how does a game studio keep their fans from scattering into the digital wind without divulging any information on the status of their new game?  Community theatre, of course.

Bungie Community Manager and all around nice guy, DeeJ, has come up with a new way to keep fans entertained while they wait for information on the new game.  Dramatic readings of actual letters sent to the studio, complete with pipe, smoking jacket, crackling fire, exotic (stuffed) pets, and an outlandish British accent.  While made for laughs, the latest episode of Bungie Community Theatre revealed some fairly big news.  Check it out below, and pay particular attention at around the 2:12 mark.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmQl_WP7t-s]

“In a matter of weeks, we’ll be unveiling what we’ve been creating for you.”  This ties in with the fact that Bungie developers Joe Staten and Christopher Barrett are scheduled to hold a lecture at next month’a Game Developers Conference entitled “Brave New World: New Bungie IP.”  Best of all, hidden within the impossibly rapid credits at the end of the video was this little nugget:

destinynews

Oh, Bungie… your humorous easter eggs have always brought me such joy.

Combine all of this with a recent website redesign that was intended, in part, to better handle a massive influx of new users, and it looks like the Sun is finally about to rise at Bungie.  It’s about damn time too.  As fun as it’s been to weather the darkness with my fellow Bungie fans, the novelty of having nothing in particular to talk about wore off long ago.  It’s a testament to the studio’s continued commitment to its fans that so many of us decided to hang around through the protracted information blackout.  I mean, seriously… name another community manager who would dress up in a smoking jacket and talk to a stuffed tiger?


About the Author: (@Joe_of_the_Dead) Lead Editor, Writer

Joe was born in a time of war. A console war. Two electronic titans were locked in a heated battle for the living rooms of America. Which titans, you ask? Well, the Fairchild Channel F and the Atari 2600 of course. You see, Joe is old. So many of his favorite games tend to be on the older side as well. But that hasn’t stopped him from developing unhealthy obsessions with such modern franchises as Halo and Mass Effect. Just don’t tell him how long it’s been since the original Metroid was released. His aging heart can’t take the shock.

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