Home Gaming Bungie ends their partnership with Activision, keeps the rights to Destiny

Bungie ends their partnership with Activision, keeps the rights to Destiny

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Destiny 2 (1)

Gaming’s power couple is officially over. In a new blog postt, Destiny developer Bungie revealed today that it has begun to part ways with publisher Activision, ending a partnership that began in 2010 and saw the release of Destiny, its first sequel and numerous expansions. “We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny,” Bungie wrote on their site.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie. With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects. The planned transition process is already underway in its early stages, with Bungie and Activision both committed to making sure the handoff is as seamless as possible.

With Forsaken, we’ve learned, and listened, and leaned in to what we believe our players want from a great Destiny experience. Rest assured there is more of that on the way. We’ll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap, and we’re looking forward to releasing more seasonal experiences in the coming months, as well as surprising our community with some exciting announcements about what lies beyond.

So ends a partnership that had become rather tense over the last couple of years. Bungie’s plans for Destiny required lengthy development schedules, Activision wanted annual content alongside recurrent spending and finding a compromise didn’t always result in the best content that the studio was capable of.

Loved by a select group of players (Hello!), Destiny’s committed pool of Guardians was never large enough to satisfy Activision’s demands and expectations, leading to comments at investor share meetings where the publisher expressed disappointment in the brand. While Bungie continues to negotiate their Dexit from the company, Activision is going to find itself relying more and more on its primary workhorse Call of Duty as their pool of unique intellectual properties continues to shrink.

Destiny 2 (2)

Bungie and Destiny’s exit now join Skylanders, as Activision’s publishing schedule for 2019 only has Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the inevitable new Call of Duty pencilled in for 2019. As for Bungie, the future looks challenging but rosy. Destiny 2 will still continue to release content that was previously announced, but they’ll be crafting their own future expansions without the shadow of Activision hanging over them and they’ve got a recent $100 million investment from Chinese company NetEase to work on a non-Destiny game.

The ideal situation I reckon? Destiny 2 transitions into a platform for more content, as the current game engine is fun on a bun and more than capable of being the basis for grand new adventures. Now please ignore yesterday’s feature where I prophesied that Bungie would sell Destiny off to Activision. No such article exists.

Last Updated: January 11, 2019

31 Comments

  1. It was a power couple at first glance, soon we all saw through it and felt pity and shame. We knew Activision were only using Bungie for its own selfish gains. A trophy of sorts, something to show off and exploit at posh events. But if you looked closely, you could see the abuse.

    I hear there was cheering when the Bungie staff found out ? This is good news.

    Reply

  2. G8crasha

    January 11, 2019 at 07:35

    A Marriage of Convenience at the time!

    Reply

  3. Kromas

    January 11, 2019 at 07:40

    It really is sad that Blizzard can’t leave Activision Blizzard.

    Reply

  4. Original Heretic

    January 11, 2019 at 07:20

    So, D, have you printed out yesterday’s article yet? Try it with sriracha sauce. Might taste better when you eat those words.

    Reply

    • The D

      January 11, 2019 at 07:45

      Joke’s on you. Hubris is a dish best served with Nando’s mild lemon and herb peri peri sauce.

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        January 11, 2019 at 08:12

        There is no such thing as Nando’s mild!! One should only ever order the hot, or be labelled pansy-mouth forever.

        Reply

        • The D

          January 11, 2019 at 08:34

          I’ll take the pansy-mouth label over the screaming hellmouth that my starfish will become if I step up the heat intensity, any day of the week.

          Reply

          • Guz

            January 11, 2019 at 09:24

            Its either Hot or not! Also now I want to listen to some Limp Bizkit

          • For the Emperor!

            January 11, 2019 at 09:48

            Reminds me of the ending to the Nando’s “You people” ad!

          • HvR

            January 11, 2019 at 10:10

            LADIES AND GENTLEMAN INTRODUCING!!!!!!!

          • Original Heretic

            January 11, 2019 at 08:40

            D-did you just refer to your starfish as a “mouth”?!
            Did you take that South Park episode way too literally?!
            Gawd, explains a lot…

        • Pariah

          January 11, 2019 at 09:56

          Extra hot, thanks. Lightweights who pretend to like hot food…

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            January 11, 2019 at 10:10

            Anus says no.

          • Pariah

            January 11, 2019 at 10:29

            Lack of exposure.

          • Original Heretic

            January 11, 2019 at 10:33

            I’m not part cat. I don’t walk around exposing my anus for all to peer at.

          • Pariah

            January 11, 2019 at 11:05

            I’ve missed clever retorts. Thank you. You’ve made my day. Not kidding, either. I was just giving another community shit for always taking the low hanging fruit and not coming up with something actually smart or punny, or just actually funny. <3

          • Original Heretic

            January 11, 2019 at 11:05

            If this community had no clever or funny retorts, it would just be…well, it’d full on cheese.
            Yes, that was a jibe. *Whisper* not at you, though.

          • Pariah

            January 11, 2019 at 11:10

            *gasp* cheese? Well I’m lactose intolerant, as everyone knows. 😛

          • Original Heretic

            January 11, 2019 at 11:18

            Ha! As are many, methinks.

      • Guz

        January 11, 2019 at 09:29

        You know what that would actually make a seriously good ad lol, but one about revenge and Nandos hot sauce xD

        Reply

  5. For the Emperor!

    January 11, 2019 at 09:48

  6. Pariah

    January 11, 2019 at 09:56

    Hah being proven wrong less than 24 hours later. I know that feeling. All too well. XD

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      January 11, 2019 at 10:25

      to be fair, he guessed the split would happen, just the wrong people who’d get the IP.

      Reply

      • Pariah

        January 11, 2019 at 10:29

        Yeah that’s fair. But when a person teases another, usually facts become largely irrelevant and we go “neener neener” and then block our ears and run away laughing maniacally.

        Reply

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