The Man is Leaving the Building
Visibility: Visible to the public
Here at Bungie, there isn't a whole lot we take seriously. But there are times when even we are forced to wipe the smirk from our collective face and deal with the harsh realities of life. Now is one of those times. This week, The Man himself, Alexander Seropian, broke the news to us that he's leaving Bungie to pursue other opportunities, such as your mom. Well, someone's mom, at any rate.
You read it right: The Man will soon be The Father of The Child, and has elected to return to The City so he can concentrate on being The Dad for a while. He leaves at the end of August.
This is bittersweet news for all of us at Bungie: we're very happy for Alex but at the same time we're sad to see him go. Alex and Jason spent an afternoon discussing the situation with all the teams here at Bungie HQ, so all of us got to ask what this means for Bungie and have our fears assuaged. But we knew this might be a shock to some of our fans, especially those of you who have been with us for a long time. We thought it might help if we could provide some simulacrum of the "sitting down with Alex to discuss his departure and the future of Bungie" experience.
With that in mind, I stepped into Alex's office, along with our Microsoft-assigned intern/pegboy, Skip Weasel, for a brief interview. The following is an unedited transcription of Skip's tape recorder.
Matt: Hi Alex. We're here to ask you a bunch of intrusive personal questions.
Alex: Excellent! I was just thinking that I haven't had my privacy invaded recently. Come on in.
Matt: So a lot of the fans are going to be asking about you leaving Bungie...what's going to change and so on-
Alex: Right.
Matt: And I thought it might be good if they heard some of what you told us earlier, so I'm going to ask a bunch of questions you've already answered and then Skip here will record it all and we'll post the whole thing on the website.
Alex: Coolio. Ask away.
Matt: I think the first thing people will want to know is why you're leaving.
Alex: This might sound a little too pat, but my wife and I are going to become parents at the end of this year, and it seems like an obvious sort of turning point for me.
Skip: That does sound a little too pat.
Matt: I don't think he asked you, Skip.
Alex: Yeah, just hold the mic, Skip.
Matt: You know there are going to be all sorts of conspiracy theories about why you "really" left.
Alex: Well, I wish they were true, because that would make a more entertaining story. This is something I've thought about doing for a long time. Now seemed like the best time. Bungie's got a life of its own now; it's not dependent on having one guy around all the time anymore.
Matt: So the next thing people will want to know is how this affects Bungie.
Alex: In terms of the games, there shouldn't be any noticeable effect. The biggest difference will be internally, because Jason and I have to find someone to do the sort of day-to-day managerial stuff that I've been doing for Bungie. I'm good at that sort of stuff, but it's not like I'm the only person who can do it. So we'll be getting someone to do all that, and he or she will report to Jason.
Matt: So it's not like you're handing over Bungie to some stranger who wants to remake it in his own image.
Alex: No, Jason's going to be in charge. The Bungie philosophy and attitude will remain intact and undisturbed. I'm still on good terms with everyone here, so it's not like I'm completely severing my connection with the people at Bungie. People can always call if there's ever any situation where people think my advice or input would help.
Matt: But once you leave, Jason is basically going to become Supreme Commander of Bungie.
Alex: Correct. With all the power and glory that title implies.
Skip: How much power and glory is that, exactly?
Alex: Did you hear something?
Matt: I think it was the wind. So how would you respond to fans who wonder if Bungie will suffer in your absence?
Alex: That's hard. I know it's going to be tough for me personally, because I have so many friends here. It's going to be weird for me to wake up in the morning and not think about Bungie, and it might be strange for people here when they, you know, don't see me around anymore. I wouldn't be doing this if I thought it would have a bad effect on Bungie. All the teams here have been together for a long time, they know what they're doing. I think Bungie will be able to carry on without me. You better send me free copies of everything you do, though. If I ever have to pay real money for a Bungie game, someone's gonna get fired.
Matt: I'm sure we can work something out. I think the other thing people will want to know about is what comes next for you personally.
Alex: Well, I'm moving back to Chicago, and shortly after that I plan to do a lot of diaper-changing and baby-burping.
Matt: But you're not going to be changing diapers the rest of your life.
Alex: Well, I hope not. Knock on wood. No, I'm going to do other things, but I'm not entirely sure what those might be just yet.
Matt: Fair enough. I think that's it for the interview questions.
Skip: Ask him about the clone army.
Alex: The what?
Skip: Don't try to play dumb. I was there, I heard the whole-
Matt: Why are you still talking, pegboy?
Skip: Dude, just ten minutes ago he was telling us about the clone lab in his basement in Chicago-
Matt: That's enough, Skip.
Skip: - and how the whole "kid" story is just a ruse because he's actually cloning himself to create an army-
Alex: This sounds suspiciously like a movie. You watch too many movies, Skip.
Skip: - and how an army comprised of nothing but The Man was always part of the whole world domination plan, and-
Matt: Skip, give me the tape. Stop taping right now or it's back to the peg.
Skip: No way, man! This is important. People should hear the tru
Unfortunately at this point the tape goes blank, almost as if a person or persons unknown grabbed the tape recorder and beat an intern with it until he learned to keep his mouth shut. But I think we covered all of the important stuff.
We have entered the final seven weeks of The Man's stewardship of Bungie. Truly the end of an era. We just wanted to let you know.
CEO Alexander Seropian leaving Halo!!
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...just like that simon dude at microsoft although he was probably a billionaire already...this just sucks...oh well...this isnt the end ...one man doesnt make a company
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