Timeline of development
- For the full story of Oni's development, see Oni. For detailed information on the continued updates for Mac after release, see History of Mac Oni.
The Oni project started development in April of 1997 and ran for approximately 3 years, 9 months, ending in January of 2001. Through this time, the Bungie West team ran into unexpected technical and design hurdles, resulting in a much longer development period than planned. The initial internal deadline for the game was October 1999, and this was gradually pushed back quarter by quarter until the game was finished anywhere from November 2000 to January 2001 depending on the platform.
The development of the game was accompanied by unexpected events such as a financial blow to Bungie from the Myth II uninstaller bug, a partial buyout by Take-Two Interactive, turnover on the staff and a change of project lead, and then a complete buyout by Microsoft. Only a sustained crunch period at the end of development, pushing Bungie West to their limits, allowed the game to be finished to a degree where it was ready to ship, and cuts to the game were still required such as the removal of multiplayer mode.
| Apr. 2, 1997 |
Engine quietly begins development under Brent Pease |
| May 15, 1997 |
Bungie West announces they are hiring; Michael Evans and Alex Okita onboard by this point or soon after |
| May 23, 1998 |
Oni is announced along with Myth II at E3 |
| Dec. 28, 1998 |
Myth II uninstaller bug is discovered, costs Bungie about $800,000 |
| Dec. 31, 1998 |
Bungie West gets their content authoring pipeline workingCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| May 13, 1999 |
Oni appears at E3 with hands-on demo running in multiplayer mode "Blam" project is shown to a select group behind closed doors |
| Jul. 21, 1999 |
Oni appears at Macworld NY running in multiplayer mode Halo is announced |
| Aug. 12, 1999 |
Take-Two Interactive announces that it will purchase 19.9% stake in Bungie, becoming the distributor for Oni and Halo;[1] purchase occurs in NovemberCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have contentOni's stated release date is "before Christmas" 1999[1] |
| Dec. 1999 |
Brent Pease leaves the Oni team |
| Jan. 5, 2000 |
Oni appears at Macworld SF and is shown on BungieTV running in multiplayer mode |
| May 2000 |
The announcement is made that multiplayer mode has been canceled |
| Jun. 19, 2000 |
Microsoft purchases 100% stake in Bungie and Take-Two gains full IP rights over Oni and MythCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have contentCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Aug. 28, 2000 |
Oni enters beta phase of developmentCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Nov. 4, 2000 |
Creation date on game data in the Windows retail release |
| Nov. 17, 2000 |
Oni is gold mastered for Windows |
| Nov. 20, 2000 |
Creation date on game data in the Windows demo and Mac retail release (in .sep format) |
| Dec. 15, 2000 |
Bungie West officially moves to Microsoft's headquarters at Redmond |
| Dec. 17, 2000 |
Windows demo releasedCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Dec. 20, 2000 |
Oni is possibly gold mastered for Mac, based on release of Mac demoCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Jan. 2, 2001 |
Second possible date of Mac gold masterCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Jan. 22, 2001 |
Oni is gold mastered for PlayStation 2Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
| Jan. 29, 2001 |
Official release date for Oni in North America on Mac, Windows and PS2Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content[2]Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |