April Fools' Day

For over a decade and a half, Bungie played tricks on their fans by posting news articles on the front page or in the forums about things that apparently happened or are going to happen, only to be proved false come April 2nd. Half of the annual jokes usually referenced Pimps at Sea, an upcoming game that has been in development for over 20 years.

(For information on the annual April Fool's Day joke by the HFCS Forum Ninjas, see Ninja's April Fools' Day)

The Jokes

2001

Pimps at Sea "gameplay"

Pimps At Sea is announced for the Xbox. The product page included screenshots, a description of the gameplay, and a behind-the-scenes interview video. Shortly after the announcement, Bungie admitted that the announcement was a prank for April Fools Day, because the game "isn't really that far along in development."

2002

Halo Babies logo

• Bungie unveiled Halo Babies, an animated Halo television series. The series was scheduled to debut on fall 2002. The series would later loan its name to a fan web comic.

• A new update to Pimps at Sea's development was released. The main ship's name was revealed to be the "Diamond Dreadnought," the master pimp's name was revealed to be Sir Courvoisier, the player's first ship was revealed to be the Ticonderoga Muscle Canoe, and the Turn Them Out^TM system that could import and pimp out characters from other games was announced .

2003

Pimpwheel controller

• The PimpCom Xbox Live headset and PimpWheel controller are announced for Pimps at Sea.

• Bungie announces Bungie.net Pro, a parody of online premium memberships. "For $7/month, subscribers will get access to boatloads of webcams, an online version of the Halo Story Bible, developer diaries, daily Halo 2 screenshots, and more!" Ironically, Bungie would later release an actual premium membership, Bungie Pro, to convert saved files from Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach, into downloadable videos.

2004

• Bungie brings back Pimps at Sea. This year a "Big Pimpin' Bling-Bling Special Collector's Edition" is announced to be made out of gold.

• Bungie posted a news item about the new lengths to which the product placement model is being taken in Halo 2. Keds, Arby's and Starbucks were among the companies to be showcased in-game.

2005

Halo 2 Mountain Dew emblem

• On March 31, 1up.com released an article claiming that an "anonymous source from a Southern California publishing company" contacted them to leak that Bungie was set to release their first Hollywood production. The film would be entitled "Pimps At Sea: Avast Me Bitches." The movie was set to begin shooting in August. Additionally, the source claimed that Bungie had plans to release their Pimps at Sea game as an Xbox 360 title in late 2006.

• Bungie announced a Mountain Dew emblem for Halo 2. According to legend, after purchasing the new map pack (sponsored by Mountain Dew) players would receive a Mountain Dew multiplayer emblem to use in Halo 2.

Flood on a Plane movie poster

2006

• Bungie tells a website that a Nintendo DS port of Halo 2 would be announced at E3 2006.

• Bungie exposes the supposed Flood on a Plane upcoming film as a realistic April Fools' gag, explaining that people shouldn't buy it as real.

• A new screenshot for Pimps at Sea was released for the game on March 31 along with a list of Xbox Live achievements and gameplay updates.

2007

Pimps At Sea the Movie

• The "Pimps at Sea" movie was revealed to be in post-production. According to the official poster released by Bungie, the movie's title was changed back to "Pimps At Sea" and would be rated R. It was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2008. Bungie apologized for the industry leak.

2008

A Frankie Drawn Master Chief

• The "Players Online" world map in Halo 3's Matchmaking lobby displayed an image of Mister Chief's head across Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was also placed on the Halo 3 Bungie.net night map.

• Several job descriptions to port Halo to the Dreamcast system were discovered by Urk (prior to joining Bungie):

Contract Position: Port/Emulation Specialist

Bungie Studios is looking for an experienced engineer with the skills and qualifications to port existing software to a challenging older hardware platform through emulation. This is a contract position and will require about one year of commitment for a single project.

Essential Functions

• Create tools and software to port a classic game to an emulated hardware platform. Define and help implement all processes for creating this and possibly subsequent ports.
• Planning, scheduling, assigning, and tracking the detailed tasks that are port related.
• Collaborate with other engineers to help build simple tools for future emulation projects.

Desired Qualifications

• Knowledge of Hitachi 128 bit chipsets.
• An exceptional understanding of NEC Power VR GPU (2nd generation)
• Understanding of GD ROM and HDD caching.
• Thorough knowledge of Yamaha legacy soundchips.
• Three or more years experience working as a (senior) engineer on a shipped AAA game title.
• Strong collaboration skills.
• Passion for classic hardware.

Please email resumes (along with demo reels, portfolios, sample code, and anything else that demonstrates your skills) to jobs@bungie.com.

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Animator/Dance Choreographer

Bungie is seeking an unusual candidate – an animator with a real understanding of individual and group dance aesthetics. Ideally you will have professional experience in both modern dance choreography and computer animation. This is a challenging and unique role for a very unique individual.

Essential Functions:

• Create incredible dance routines for individuals and groups of up to 16.
• Work with Maya and other custom tools to build convincing human movement and artistic expression through dance.
• Animate human motion using custom tools and middleware
• Work closely with artists, other animators, designers and developers to integrate dance into a game engine.
• Help create new tools in a motion capture environment.

Desired Qualifications:

• Two or more years professional dance/choreography experience
• Two or more years animating with a professional game or film company
• A portfolio or demo reel that demonstrates strong artistic and dance skills as well as a firm human movement.
• Excellent cross-discipline communication skills
• Must love all forms of dance, from tap, through jazz to modern and ballet.
• Bachelor's degree or demonstrated equivalent experience

Please email resumes (along with demo reels, portfolios, sample code, and anything else that demonstrates your skills) to jobs@bungie.com.

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3D UI Designer

Bungie Studios is looking for an experienced UI designer who can work in a 3D spatial field and create user interfaces that respond to natural human movement and gestures ina 3D space. We are seeking a non traditional UI conceptualist who can work with dancers, game designers and performance artists to create control through movement and form.

Essential Functions

• Provide a compelling, entertaining and enjoyable interface experience that utilizes human movements in a 3D space.
• Manage the creation and conceptualization of unique new human interfaces.
• Work with the design team to create a 3D UI that is a seamless part of the gameplay experience.
• Work with athletes, dancers and performance artists to build a library of human gestures and movements.
• Supervise workflow and UI hierarchy cascade.
• Work with artists to convey movement through visualization and vice versa.
• Assist the Art Director to implement his/her vision for the project.
• Must be flexible, limber and physically fit.

Desired Qualifications

• Exemplary communication and organization skills
• Experience creating 2D and 3D interfaces for software products.
• Undergraduate degree or completion of a certificate program that provides an education in the fundamentals of art and or performance art
• Thorough knowledge of Photoshop, Flash, Max and other 2D/3D applications.
• Three or more years experience working as a UI designer on a shipped AAA game title 0.Passion for dance, art and interface.

Please email resumes (along with demo reels, portfolios, sample code, and anything else that demonstrates your skills) to jobs@bungie.com.

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• This was also the year that the Bungie.net Forum Ninja's started creating their own annual pranks.

2009

• The creation of "Bungie Ultimate Ninja Gaming League Extreme", or "B.U.N.G.L.E", was announced as a Halo 3 professional gaming league that Bungie felt would overtake Major League Gaming (MLG). An announcement trailer, screenshots of maps, and the 7 pillars of B.U.N.G.L.E. were also shared.

The SI appearing in Halo 3

• The Superintendent was later found to have been added to the Halo 3 "Players Online" world map.

2010

Halo Chess

• A Halo: Reach Multiplayer ViDoc was released, with various Bungie employees explaining how they were always trying to reinvent the fun of Halo and went back to the roots of multiplayer gaming, which was why they were bringing Chess to Halo: Reach since it's "the most widely played multiplayer game in the world." Surprising many, the chess gametype was publicly released the next year on April 1 (originally created the day Halo: Reach was released that no one had found).

• An exclusive to Blast Magazine announced that Halo: Reach was being released on PlayStation 3 "a week earlier and $10 cheaper than that of its Xbox 360 brother."

• On March 30, Bungie tweeted that they had received a "mysterious image" of a Spartan and "word that something big is dropping this week?!" On April 1, a parody trailer of a Halo Bollywood movie was released by IGN.

The PimpsVille front page.

2011

Bungie announced "PimpsVille," a "bold, new direction for the beloved Pimps at Sea franchise."

2012

For the first time, Bungie announced on April Fool's Day 2012 that there would be no prank. This decision was made for a few reasons, including that they didn't want to be in a joking manner when everyone's Halo stats were just moved to Halo Waypoint, and because Bungie had announced that they were going dark awhile ago to focus on their new game.

2013

Halcylon as Tiger Man

Tiger Man Official Art

Bungie shared news and a ViDoc that a character race that had been "cut" from Destiny: "Tiger Man," explaining Tiger Man's fast rise and faster fall during the development of Destiny.

In the ViDoc, the part of Tiger Man was played by Halcylon, who wore extensive makeup, roared in the Bungie recording studio, danced for the motion capture cameras, and swung a wooden sword while striking various "Tiger Man" poses.

Later that day, the Web Team forced all avatars of forums members to the "Tiger Man" avatar, and members couldn't change their avatar until the next day.

2014

DeeJ transforming into an Exo and Awoken for April Fools' 2014 (animated)

Bungie announced "The Ultimate Collector's Experience" as a Special Edition of Destiny. The edition was named the "Get Your Ass To Mars" edition, and was announced at a price of $7,000,000. In the edition, players would actually be physically transformed into an Awoken or Exo species and shipped to Mars, where they would await the arrival of the game.

CEO Pete Parsons said, "At Bungie, we’re always looking for exciting ways to immerse players in our fiction and our worlds, what better way to maximize the potential of our passionate community than to physically alter and augment their frail human forms and fire the bravest and wealthiest among them into the cold and unforgiving vacuum of space."

2015

While nothing was officially announced by Bungie, an easter egg appeared on Bungie.net for Destiny players looking at their stats. Rather than the typical pose being shown of their Guardian, it had been replaced by their Guardian dancing while a light show played in the background.

This appears to the final April fools joke from Bungie.