Bungie, creator of the Halo series, has announced their "next big thing" -- and it's not quite what anyone expected. "Bungie Aerospace is not our next game," the announcement reveals. "In fact, it's not even a game at all. Nope, it's a new venture that will connect us - and you - with what we hope will become a celebrated group of kick ass mobile developers."

Aerospace will be a new platform that allows mobile game developers to access "an audience with the incredible Bungie community" and Bungie.net resources. Additionally, Bungie has hired a slate of mobile developers and promises to assist indie teams "make their kick ass games." The recently-released Bungie Mobile app will undoubtedly serve as the gateway to introduce Aerospace games to an audience that's already dedicated and engaged with the Bungie brand. Mobile games that receive Aerospace's stamp of approval should, hopefully, stand out in a hyper-competitive field.

The first game to launch from the Aerospace program is codenamed "Crimson," and comes from Harebrained Schemes and Jordan Weisman, the person responsible for Halo 2's "I Love Bees" ARG. "Crimson" will be available this summer on both iOS and Android devices.

While some will be disappointed that Aerospace is not the new game franchise we've been expecting, Bungie wants to remind its fans that "we’re completely committed to building our next big action universe." This new project will be published by Activision and will be available on "all platforms."