Bungie Software inducted into the 1998 Inc. 500

CHICAGO--October 27, 1998--Bungie Software was recently honored with inclusion in Inc. magazine's 1998 "Inc. 500". While the Fortune 500 records those public corporations in America with the highest revenues, the Inc. 500 lists the fastest growing private corporations in the US. Bungie's rank of 101 means that, of all companies across all industries, Bungie Software is the 101st fastest growing private company in the United States.

Eligibility for the 1998 Inc. 500 is limited to those private, independent companies who had at least $200,000 in revenues in 1993 and showed an increase in revenues from 1996-1997. Certainly numerous companies fit that profile, but the percentage increase in revenues over that period determines the rank. Between 1993 and 1997, Bungie's income rose 2,228%, and earned an A rating for both years indicating a profit of better than 16%. See http://www.inc.com/500 for more information.

Though 34% of the companies listed are in computer-related industries, only one other entertainment software company made the 1998 list, a manufacturer of video games ranked 472. Private companies that handle internally the entire business of developing, publishing, distributing and supporting their games are exceedingly rare. This recognition puts Bungie in good company - among the software companies who have made the Inc. 500 in the past are Microsoft and Broderbund.

According to CEO Alexander Seropian, the secret of Bungie's success is twofold. "First, we make great games. But just as importantly, we run this company as a business. In the software industry, the goal of many companies is to go public or get bought out by a larger company. Since our sole aim is long-term profitability and bringing customers back again and again, we're unusually careful about the quality of our titles and how we support them. And we do it all in-house, so we have more control over every facet of operations than many of our competitors."

Far from "productivity software" Bungie's games are more accurately "anti-productivity software." While people typically buy their computers with the intent of using them for word-processing or surfing the internet, games of all sorts quickly become a significant part of computer usage for most users. With the growing ubiquity of home computers and networked environments, the computer games industry has bloomed into a $2.6 billion a year sector of the economy. An ever-growing part of that pie has the name Bungie on it.