After Halo Reach had finally come to an end in terms of development, gamers everywhere automatically started looking forward to what Bungie had in store for the gaming industry next. Considering they had just signed a partnering agreement with Activision, that pretty much guaranteed that a new independent property was about to be created for all gamers. However, if recent rumors are correct, and Bungie is focusing on a FPS MMO — well, you can count me out.

Gamers have already had to sit through years of speculation of a Halo MMO, but thankfully that never came to fruition. Instead, we had to sit through the release of Halo Wars, which was probably as boring as a Halo MMO would have been.

Apparently, this entire story broke out due to an ex-employee who was let go and then complained about poor working conditions and other issues. Although Activision was quick to squash any rumors in regards to the employee abuse and about company layoffs, it was interesting to see that they avoided the FPS MMO rumor entirely.

In fact, here is a quote from Activision’s community manager — Brian Jarrard.

“I can’t get into specifics,” answered Bungie community director Brian Jarrard, “but we’re definitely looking at building a universe that people want to spend time in.”

“Much like Halo but we have much more grandiose vision here, so it’s a long-term partnership for us.

“We’re really embarking on something that will be a significant undertaking for the studio that will involve multiple games set inside this brand new IP and universe.”

Right now, I’m more disappointed than anything. It seems as though Bungie is going to trade in its massively exclusive success with Halo for a FPS MMO that is sure to flop and continue the company’s downslide in popularity.

How excited are you for a Bungie-developed MMO?