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However, unbeknownst to the public, development of Oni was troubled from the start. The team was young and inexperienced, and development suffered from a lack of direction. A great deal of code had been written, and assets created, without producing a playable game with a story. By mid-1999 it became clear to management back in Chicago that the game was not going to be ready by year-end, so Hardy LeBel was added to the team with the goal of bringing focus to the development efforts and producing a shippable product.
However, unbeknownst to the public, development of Oni was troubled from the start. The team was young and inexperienced, and development suffered from a lack of direction. A great deal of code had been written, and assets created, without producing a playable game with a story. By mid-1999 it became clear to management back in Chicago that the game was not going to be ready by year-end, so Hardy LeBel was added to the team with the goal of bringing focus to the development efforts and producing a shippable product.


The second half of 1999 saw the replacement of the AI programmer and the departure of one of the level designers, followed by Brent Pease himself at the very end of the year (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans). LeBel and the team began honing the gameplay, shaping the final story, and figuring out what features or content would have to be dropped in order to ship the game before it was too late; Bungie was secretly suffering from serious money problems (see "Change of ownership" section below). In May of 2000, it was announced that multiplayer was being removed from the game due to latency issues and lack of time to create suitable arena levels for netplay. In June of 2000, it was announced that Bungie had been acquired by Microsoft.
The second half of 1999 saw the replacement of the AI programmer and the departure of one of the level designers, followed by Brent Pease himself at the very end of the year (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans). LeBel and the team began honing the gameplay, shaping the final story, and figuring out what features or content would have to be dropped in order to ship the game before it was too late; Bungie was secretly suffering from serious money problems (see "Buyout" section below). In May of 2000, it was announced that multiplayer was being removed from the game due to latency issues and lack of time to create suitable arena levels for netplay. In June of 2000, it was announced that Bungie had been acquired by Microsoft.


This caused an upset among Bungie's fan base, which mostly consisted of Mac users. They considered Microsoft to be Apple's nemesis, and now the publisher of Windows had taken the most popular game developer from the Mac world and would be incorporating them into their headquarters in Redmond, Washington. However, the effect this had on Oni's development was dire; it meant that Bungie West needed to finish their work as soon as possible in order to join the rest of Bungie in Redmond. Suddenly a hard deadline had been put in place, somewhere before the end of 2000. In order to meet this deadline, the Bungie West staff worked massive overtime for several months. According to Hardy LeBel, "It was as bad a crunch as there has ever been in the video games industry."<ref>See CryMor Gaming's documentary [https://youtu.be/jbrPu15jjPs?t=960 Demon: The Untold Story of Bungie’s Forgotten Franchise], 16 minute mark.</ref> It was only due to this final push that a playable and enjoyable game was forged out of over two years of prior work.
This caused an upset among Bungie's fan base, which mostly consisted of Mac users. They considered Microsoft to be Apple's nemesis, and now the publisher of Windows had taken the most popular game developer from the Mac world and would be incorporating them into their headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The effect this had on Oni's development was dire; it meant that Bungie West needed to finish their work as soon as possible in order to join the rest of Bungie in Redmond. In order to ship the game by year end, the Bungie West staff worked massive overtime for several months straight. According to Hardy LeBel, "It was as bad a crunch as there has ever been in the video games industry."<ref>See CryMor Gaming's documentary [https://youtu.be/jbrPu15jjPs?t=960 Demon: The Untold Story of Bungie’s Forgotten Franchise], 16 minute mark.</ref> It was only due to this final push that a playable and enjoyable game was forged out of over two years of prior work.


==Completion==
==Completion==
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Oni went through a short period of beta testing, starting just before September 2000,<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4556 OCF thread, "New news groups?"].</ref> during which leaked beta builds of the game surfaced on the Internet.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 OCF thread, "Leakage?"]</ref><ref>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ Usenet alt.games.tombraider thread, "ok wtf!"]</ref> Development of the Windows version was finished in November<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6377 OCF thread, "ONI gone GOLD", Nov. 20, 2000].</ref> and the Mac version in December of 2000.<ref name=MacGM>See [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7653 OCF thread, "Re: It's coming... soon", Dec. 18, 2000], which showed that the Mac demo would not be ready until the Mac version of the game reached Gold Master status, and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=8412 OCF thread, "MAC DEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Dec. 22, 2000], celebrating the release of the demo.</ref> The Windows demo, released in mid-December,<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7479 OCF thread, "ONI DEMO!", Dec. 17, 2000].</ref> contained Chapters [[CHAPTER_01_._TRIAL_RUN|1]] and [[CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL|4]]. A later demo was released with Chapters 1 and [[CHAPTER 02 . ENGINES OF EVIL|2]] instead. The Mac demo, released a few days after the original Windows demo,<ref name=MacGM /> only ever contained Chapters 1 and 4.
Oni went through a short period of beta testing, starting just before September 2000,<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4556 OCF thread, "New news groups?"].</ref> during which leaked beta builds of the game surfaced on the Internet.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 OCF thread, "Leakage?"]</ref><ref>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ Usenet alt.games.tombraider thread, "ok wtf!"]</ref> Development of the Windows version was finished in November<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6377 OCF thread, "ONI gone GOLD", Nov. 20, 2000].</ref> and the Mac version in December of 2000.<ref name=MacGM>See [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7653 OCF thread, "Re: It's coming... soon", Dec. 18, 2000], which showed that the Mac demo would not be ready until the Mac version of the game reached Gold Master status, and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=8412 OCF thread, "MAC DEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Dec. 22, 2000], celebrating the release of the demo.</ref> The Windows demo, released in mid-December,<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7479 OCF thread, "ONI DEMO!", Dec. 17, 2000].</ref> contained Chapters [[CHAPTER_01_._TRIAL_RUN|1]] and [[CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL|4]]. A later demo was released with Chapters 1 and [[CHAPTER 02 . ENGINES OF EVIL|2]] instead. The Mac demo, released a few days after the original Windows demo,<ref name=MacGM /> only ever contained Chapters 1 and 4.


As Oni finally neared completion, Bungie resumed their advertising, now partnered with Take-Two, who were in the process of taking over the Oni [[wp:Intellectual_property|IP]] as Bungie prepared to join Microsoft (see "Change of ownership" section below). Promotional artwork was produced by Lorraine Reyes as well as artists commissioned by Take-Two, and a four-issue comic book was produced under Take-Two's supervision and published by Dark Horse. Take-Two's PR efforts, however, seem to have been focused mainly on the PS2 version of the game.
As Oni finally neared completion, Bungie resumed their advertising, now partnered with Take-Two, who were in the process of taking over the Oni [[wp:Intellectual_property|IP]] as Bungie prepared to join Microsoft (see "Buyout" section below). Promotional artwork was produced by Lorraine Reyes as well as artists commissioned by Take-Two, and a four-issue comic book was produced under Take-Two's supervision and published by Dark Horse. Take-Two's PR efforts, however, seem to have been focused mainly on the PS2 version of the game.


''Further reading:'' [[Mac betas|Leaked beta]], [[Dark_Horse_comics|Dark Horse's ''Oni'' comic]], [[:Category:Promotional art|Promotional art]].
''Further reading:'' [[Mac betas|Leaked beta]], [[Dark_Horse_comics|Dark Horse's ''Oni'' comic]], [[:Category:Promotional art|Promotional art]].
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{{Quotebox|title=Take-Two 10-K (2000)|width=365px|quote="In June 2000, the Company sold its 19.9% equity interest in Bungie Software (“Bungie”) to Microsoft Corporation for approximately $5,000[,000] in cash. The Company did not realize any gain or loss on this transaction. Separately, the Company sold its exclusive Halo publishing and distribution rights to Bungie for $4,000[,000] in cash, a royalty free license to Bungie’s Halo technology in connection with the development of two original products and all right, title and interest to the Myth franchise and the PC and PlayStation(R) 2 game,  
{{Quotebox|title=Take-Two 10-K (2000)|width=365px|quote="In June 2000, the Company sold its 19.9% equity interest in Bungie Software (“Bungie”) to Microsoft Corporation for approximately $5,000[,000] in cash. The Company did not realize any gain or loss on this transaction. Separately, the Company sold its exclusive Halo publishing and distribution rights to Bungie for $4,000[,000] in cash, a royalty free license to Bungie’s Halo technology in connection with the development of two original products and all right, title and interest to the Myth franchise and the PC and PlayStation(R) 2 game,  
Oni. The Company recorded this transaction as net sales of $5,500[,000] after giving effect to the receipt of $9,000[,000] in cash and $5,800[,000] of assets (consisting of $2,800[,000] relating to Oni, $1,500[,000] relating to Myth and $1,500[,000] relating to the license to use Halo game engine technology for two original products), net of $9,300[,000] of assets sold."}}
Oni. The Company recorded this transaction as net sales of $5,500[,000] after giving effect to the receipt of $9,000[,000] in cash and $5,800[,000] of assets (consisting of $2,800[,000] relating to Oni, $1,500[,000] relating to Myth and $1,500[,000] relating to the license to use Halo game engine technology for two original products), net of $9,300[,000] of assets sold."}}
Bungie had seemed to enjoy great success as an independent publisher ever since they released [[wp:Pathways into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]] in 1993. However, Bungie was initially a Macintosh developer, and even their domination of the Mac's small game industry meant limited success in real financial terms<ref>Dean Takahashi's book "Opening the Xbox" claims on [https://books.google.com/books?ei=A1mlT672KIG29QSbz-HyDQ&id=sJi2AAAAIAAJ&dq=Opening+the+xbox&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Bungie page 238] that a Bungie game never sold more than 200,000 units, but that number may be based on a misunderstanding, because the Chicago Reader article [https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/monsters-in-a-box/Content?oid=901762 "Monsters in a Box"] talks about an ''initial shipment'' of Myth II numbering 200,000 units.</ref> (but eventually, Bungie began releasing games for Windows too, starting with Marathon 2). Bungie also took advantage of their indie status to avoid the strict deadlines which are normally enforced by video game publishers, refusing to release their games until they were totally satisfied with them.
Bungie had seemed to enjoy great success as an independent publisher ever since they released [[wp:Pathways into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]] in 1993. However, Bungie was initially a Macintosh developer, and even their domination of the Mac's small game industry meant limited success in real financial terms<ref>Dean Takahashi's book "Opening the Xbox" claims on [https://books.google.com/books?ei=A1mlT672KIG29QSbz-HyDQ&id=sJi2AAAAIAAJ&dq=Opening+the+xbox&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Bungie page 238] that a Bungie game never sold more than 200,000 units, but that number may be based on a misunderstanding, because the Chicago Reader article [https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/monsters-in-a-box/Content?oid=901762 "Monsters in a Box"] talks about an ''initial shipment'' of Myth II numbering 200,000 units.</ref> (though Bungie also began releasing games for Windows starting with Marathon 2). Bungie took advantage of their indie status to avoid the strict deadlines which are normally enforced by video game publishers, refusing to release their games until they were totally satisfied with them.


It is believed that Bungie began suffering from a shortage of cash around 1998 when the [[Myth]] II uninstaller bug was discovered and cost them at least $1 million to correct.<ref>See Bungie's 20th Anniversary documentary, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtG6--4r_qk O Brave New World]'', 6 minute mark.</ref> This might have been difficult to absorb for a studio not accustomed to a disciplined release schedule. The next game to release after Myth II was to be Oni in 1999, but as Oni's release date began to slide more and more, it became clear that Bungie had underestimated the time required to finish the game by more than usual. In the meantime, Bungie was bankrolling two studios instead of one. Thus, the decision was made to partner with Take-Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Take-Two would acquire 19.9% of Bungie in exchange for the publishing rights to Oni and the upcoming Halo.<ref>[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/0000891554-00-000145.txt SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/99].</ref> Take-Two also began work on a port of Oni for the upcoming PlayStation 2 console.
It is believed that Bungie began suffering from a shortage of cash around 1998 when the [[Myth]] II uninstaller bug was discovered and cost them at least $1 million to correct.<ref>See Bungie's 20th Anniversary documentary, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtG6--4r_qk O Brave New World]'', 6 minute mark.</ref> This might have been difficult to absorb for a studio not accustomed to a disciplined release schedule. The next game to release after Myth II was to be Oni in 1999, but as Oni's release date began to slide more and more, it became clear that Bungie had underestimated the time required to finish the game by more than usual. In the meantime, Bungie was bankrolling two studios instead of one. Thus, the decision was made to partner with Take-Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Take-Two would acquire 19.9% of Bungie in exchange for the publishing rights to Oni and the upcoming Halo.<ref>[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/0000891554-00-000145.txt SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/99].</ref> Take-Two also began work on a port of Oni for the upcoming PlayStation 2 console.
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