When faced with the freedom to create a whole new universe that you think will be awesome versus the option to eternally churn out the same games you've already done for a decade (and only sell it on one console, mind you, limiting your sales and taking more profits), the choice becomes clear. Freedom is the way to go. Their games, their way, on their time, to as many systems as they want without a super corporation breathing down their necks saying "Hey, we need you to milk your franchise further." Would they have made Halo 4 better than 343 did? I don't doubt it. But that wasn't their choice. Microsoft owned Bungie, and by extension Halo. Bungie could either sit in purgatory forever making the same Halo games again and again, or they could evolve. Props to them for taking a chance on themselves.