Last night, Bungie posted a letter on its countdown homepage, stating that it had a change of plans due to its publisher. The letter sounds too harsh to be a part of the original hoax (and if it is, I say it’s in poor taste). It looks like this alternate reality game, or ARG, just got a little more interesting.

I have to say that I’ve spent more time thinking about Bungie this week than I ought to. I absolutely love these kinds of things – finding all the clues, putting the pieces together, watching everyone else try to sort it out.  I think it’s pretty amazing that Bungie has the type of fan base that can take this seriously enough to pull it off. And with the latest setback, they are getting even more publicity – part of the original plan? They did say to EXPECT DELAYS.

Another conspiracy theorist found a website to a radio station (real? alternate reality?) that was running the Bungie countdown at the same time. After yesterday, the script was changed. Now the last two lines read:

COUN7DOWN 7O 7HE END:

followed by a countdown that ends on August 7 at 7:07 pm. Knowing Bungie’s love for the number 7, we can only add that to the list of conspiracy possibilities, and imagine that, if they don’t have an announcement attached to EA’s presser this afternoon, we’ll have to wait until August to see what’s up their sleeves.

I hope against hope that this is a brand new franchise by Bungie, something completely unrelated to the Halo universe. We’ll find out soon!