Bungie has parted ways with publisher Activision, taking the Destiny franchise with it

[Polycount]

Destiny is arguably one of the most popular video game franchises out there. It has millions of players, several expansions (some better than others), but controversy has always followed it around.

Many players have criticized both Destiny 1 and 2 for their monetization systems, and a subset of those players placed the blame for these issues on the Destiny series' publisher, Activision.

While it's difficult to say how accurate that belief is, it was lent some credence today. Destiny developer Bungie (Best known for its work on the Halo series) has made the decision to split off from Activision, taking the Destiny franchise with it.

There could have been any number of reasons for this parting-of-the-ways, but we wouldn't be surprised if some of the theories Activision's detractors have come up with proved to be true - perhaps the publisher was exerting too much control over Destiny's development, and Bungie finally grew tired of it.

Indeed, sources close to the situation (who spoke to Kotaku editor Jason Schreier anonymously) say that's precisely what occurred. According to Schreier, employees "cheered and popped champagne," having "long grown sick" of putting up with Activision when the news was announced during a team meeting today.

We don't know what the future holds for Destiny, and Bungie as a whole, but we're certainly looking forward to finding out.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/78221-bungie-has-parted-ways-publisher-activision-taking-destiny.html

 

[m4a4]

On one hand, good for them. Activision pushes for money first, players second.
On the other hand, now they don't have that safety net made of cash. Hopefully they can turn some things around, and don't need that net...

 

[texasrattler]

So they got sick of MS now Activision. Hmm lets see who will be next because they cant survive on their own, they have proved that already.
I give them a few years on their own and then look for a publisher who can get their game in the hands on millions. Wouldn't be surprised if it's EA.
They don't have enough money to sustain being by themselves. Reality is they will need someone, now or later.

 

[torchyear]

I hope this is also an opportunity for Bungie to stop being a publisher's golden goose, and start taking creative risks again. Myth: The Fallen Lords and Halo 1 were groundbreaking titles, but everything since then has been Halo: Resprayed.

 

[psycros]

Chances are Bungie is shopping around for a better profit sharing arrangement. Its becoming clear that Steam's days at the top are numbered. Discord linked itself to Steam and then quickly realized that it didn't actually need Steam at all - it just needed people to link their game libraries to Discord. Take away price as a factor and people could care less where they buy their games as long as their "friend list" still works like it should. If GoG or Epic were to form a relationship with Discord like the one Discord already has with Steam you'd see developers pulling their stuff from Steam at breakneck pace. Honestly, I wish Amazon hadn't bought Twitch so they could have merged with Discord and then supported all the major digital storefronts.

 

[Mister_K]

Chances are Bungie is shopping around for a better profit sharing arrangement. Its becoming clear that Steam's days at the top are numbered. Discord linked itself to Steam and then quickly realized that it didn't actually need Steam at all - it just needed people to link their game libraries to Discord. Take away price as a factor and people could care less where they buy their games as long as their "friend list" still works like it should. If GoG or Epic were to form a relationship with Discord like the one Discord already has with Steam you'd see developers pulling their stuff from Steam at breakneck pace. Honestly, I wish Amazon hadn't bought Twitch so they could have merged with Discord and then supported all the major digital storefronts.

Steam was revolutionary for PC gaming. Now, ever since Discords debut, it's like the second coming. Again, a tool that is revolutionary. Nearly EVERYONE has it. Discord has some real potential if it can pull of good partnerships and keeps on top of their game with the client.

Now all Discord needs is the implementation with consoles. Being able to connect PC and console players with ease would be the next step. 90% of my friends are console players.

-----

Oh and OT,

Bungie...

 

[Jamibi]

I played Destiny 1 and loved t, but seeing all the reduced/left out content was a heartbreak.

Destiny 2 was meant to be the saviour but was worst than the first one, I haven't even bothered to buy the year 2 expansion as I don't want to give them any more of my money, even if the game is "fixed" now.

I can only see benefits from Bungie leaving Activision, solely based on what is happening to Blizzard at the moment.

I don't think EA or Ubisoft would be interested though, as they have Anthem and The Division 2 on the horizon. I wonder who else might snap this up. I'll come back to the Destiny franchise with Destiny 3 though. (I'm a sucker for Destiny and I'd love to play it again, got to stick to my guns with Destiny 2 though)

 

[Bubbajim]

So they got sick of MS now Activision. Hmm lets see who will be next because they cant survive on their own, they have proved that already.
I give them a few years on their own and then look for a publisher who can get their game in the hands on millions. Wouldn't be surprised if it's EA.
They don't have enough money to sustain being by themselves. Reality is they will need someone, now or later.

About 7 or 8 months ago they got a $100 million cash injection from NetEase, the Chinese gaming company that's making Diablo Immortal with Blizzard. I've hardly seen this reported but I think it's a massive factor in what's going on. And, to me, not a good factor, as NetEase hardly have the best reputation.

 

[ZackL04]

Cross platform Halo re-master, lets see it.

 

[kira setsu]

Whats up with all these big devs placing themselves in bad positions?

although getting away from activision may end up being good where does that place the pc version of destiny? because they've now left microsoft and acti does that mark them in a bad way towards other publishers?

whats really funny is that now microsoft with it's gamepass and play anywhere titles if bungie stayed with them they'd be in a pretty good spot. hoping the best for bungie but right now anthem and division 2 are now poised to hit really hard if they dont get too greedy, mostly anthem cause ubi is a bunch of trolls.

 

[mbrowne5061]

I wouldn't be surprised if Bungie wants to make a go at becoming a "developer-publisher" like Valve (in theory) and Ubisoft (in practice) are. It doesn't take much to make their own launcher, or they could put it on Discord, GoG (MMOs have a little more natural leniency to being DRM-free), Epic, or maybe Steam. Big name, proven track record, the tech is available and accessible, they could probably find investors rather easily if they needed some additional cash to get rolling on their own.

 

[Burty117]

So they got sick of MS now Activision. Hmm lets see who will be next because they cant survive on their own, they have proved that already.
I give them a few years on their own and then look for a publisher who can get their game in the hands on millions. Wouldn't be surprised if it's EA.
They don't have enough money to sustain being by themselves. Reality is they will need someone, now or later.

About 7 or 8 months ago they got a $100 million cash injection from NetEase, the Chinese gaming company that's making Diablo Immortal with Blizzard. I've hardly seen this reported but I think it's a massive factor in what's going on. And, to me, not a good factor, as NetEase hardly have the best reputation.

I think this says alot about how hard Activision really are on their developers if Bungie saw NetEase as a better alternative!

 

[NightAntilli]

Next stop, EA or Ubisoft, with ultimately the same result. Better go with Ubisoft... EA will close them down.

 

[gollum21]

I stopped playing or paying attention to the game after Taken King. It should be interesting to see what happens next with Destiny now that Activision is out. Seems to me like Bungie now has an opportunity to make some much needed changes