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Stone Kite 4 Oct 2026, 15:45

Stone Kite launched: Jason Jones and Margaret Stohl start world-building studio on 1 October 2026

Stone Kite launched: Jason Jones and Margaret Stohl start world-building studio on 1 October 2026

Stone Kite launched on 1 October 2026 as a cross-media world-building studio from Bungie co-founder Jason Jones and Margaret Stohl.

  • The studio is not being positioned as a traditional game developer, but as a cross-media world-building and storytelling venture.
  • Jones is being linked in coverage to Bungie classics such as Marathon, Myth, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and the original Destiny.

What happened

Stone Kite was officially launched on 1 October 2026, according to multiple publications. The studio was founded by Jason Jones, co-founder of Bungie, and Margaret Stohl, who previously worked as narrative director on Destiny 2 and is now being named as Stone Kite’s CEO.

Early coverage frames Stone Kite not as a conventional game studio, but as a company aiming to build a new world across multiple forms of entertainment from the start. The description of the company also uses the term “fractal storytelling,” although based on the available sources it is not possible to confirm whether that is an official slogan or a phrase used in reporting.

Jones is presented in the articles as a major creative force behind Bungie’s early and later work, with credits stretching back to Marathon and Myth and continuing through Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Destiny. The reporting ties his departure from Bungie to the major layoff round in June 2026, but does not include direct confirmation of a formal exit from Jones himself.

Timeline

  • 1991: Jason Jones is involved in Bungie’s early period and the development of Marathon.

  • 2014: Destiny is already an established Bungie franchise that Jones is linked to in coverage.

  • June 2026: Bungie carries out a major layoff round; a WARN filing mentions a Chief Vision Officer role among the affected positions.

  • 1 October 2026: Stone Kite is officially launched according to the available reporting.

  • 4 October 2026: Current coverage of the studio circulates widely across games media.

Background

The launch comes shortly after Bungie’s June 2026 layoffs, when a Washington WARN filing listed a Chief Vision Officer role among the affected jobs. Available sources infer from that that Jones left Bungie around that period, but that remains an indirect conclusion.

Stone Kite is described in external reporting as a Los Angeles-based world-building studio bringing together creators from film, television, comics and literature to develop original universes. The sources do not yet mention a first project, game or franchise from the studio.

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