Absence of Bungie and "Halo" from E3 was due to a last minute conflict with Microsoft

Many of you may have already seen the note on Bungie's website where President Harold Ryan said the newly independent development studio behind "Halo" had been planning to reveal "something exciting" it has been working on but that those plans "were just changed by our publisher."

Ryan didn't provide any more details, but I can shed a little light. The publisher in question is Microsoft. Bungie Studios has apparently had a conflict with Microsoft that let to the decision to excise any reference to new "Halo" products, even 2009's "Halo Wars"  or the mysterious Peter Jackson project, from Microsoft's press conference on Monday (an absence that surprised many gamers and observers). My understanding is that that call was made very recently, as in the past few days.

Separate from Microsoft's press conference, however, Bungie was planning to take the wraps off its first original, post-"Halo" project today (Wednesday). But the dispute with Microsoft apparently put the kibosh on those plans as well. That decision was made on Tuesday evening, just a few hours before Ryan posted his note.

This is all a bit hazy, of course. Assuming that Bungie's stake in any future "Halo" projects was clearly spelled out in the deal where it divested itself last year, what could the conflict have been that led to Microsoft choosing to not even discuss future plans for its top franchise? And given how massive the interest in anything new that Bungie is making would be, what kind of a fight could lead to those involved not wanting to announce it at E3?

I don't know the answers, at least not yet. But I'll keep reporting this in the days to come and will hopefully find out more. I should also note that I haven't yet reached anyone from Microsoft to comment and a spokesperson for Bungie didn't have anything to say.