Bungie copyrights four names

Few games are as anticipated as Bungie's next project, its first new franchise since Halo that will unfurl under the auspices of Activision over the next 10 years. Current speculation indicates that the title will be a massively multiplayer online game, thanks in large part to the developer's call for "hundreds of thousands" of gamers who will be needed to beta test the project. Now, it appears as if the latest cud for gamers to chew concerning Bungie's next project has arrived, courtesy of the Twitter account of Superannuation.

Yesterday, the noted Internet sleuth uncovered a quartet of filings made by Bungie with the United States Copyright Office for names that could adorn the box of the studio's upcoming project. All originally filed in late July 2010, the names are "New Monarchy," "Dead Orbit," "Osiris," and "Seven Seraphs."

All four filings carry a "Visual Material" indicator. However, it remains unclear as to what the possible names may apply to, considering the fact that the only description of the filings Bungie provided was "Electronic file (eService)." At a general level, copyright protects original works of authorship of literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, a range that includes anything from poetry and novels to movies, songs, and computer software.

As for what else is known about Bungie's next work, the company has confirmed that it will run on an entirely new engine and will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Bungie had not returned a request for comment as of press time.