Bungie ditching Activision, will self-publish Destiny.

Statement from Bungie's official website.

We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny. 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.

Looks like Bungie just got sick of Activision's bullshit demands. This coming hot on the heels of Activision Blizzard losing 2 CFOs in quick succession, and Mike Morhaime leaving Blizzard altogether in April, it looks like Bungie are picking the perfect time to abandon ship.

Update:

Couple of juicy tidbits here:

1. This has been in the works for years, apparently due to tensions in their relationship.

2. When this was announced, Bungie devs cheered loudly.

If this is true, it definitely sounds like it was Bungie who jumped and not Activision who pushed.

Good on them. F*** Activision Blizzard.

Holy crap that's great. That makes me more excited for the next Destiny!

Ok. Now I'm interested in Destiny 3.

Sick of demands? Or maybe their ten year deal is over. Always such dramatics with gamers.

Why? Bungie are still the same crap developers they were when they made destiny 1 and 2. They fell short, and that's with the help of a huge backer. Now on their own how could they ever hope to match the scale of this project?

It was an absolute disaster partnering with Activision. Destiny was a great idea and IP, ruined by the push for the mobile-like game design.

They shouldve stayed with Microsoft or Partnered with another publisher.

Its like the didnt even research Activision before signing the deal.

@Bread_or_Decide: They were only partners 8.

That was signed in 2010, so it looks like they're terminating the deal early, maybe by at least a year.

And while I can't find it now, there were plenty of inside reports about Destiny 2's development being influenced by Activision's commercial demands, which resulted in the state it was launched in.

@Bread_or_Decide: If you dont think most of the problems that D1 and D2 had were because of Activision you're a special kind of stupid. Activision scrapped the story in D1 late in the games cycle causing major problems and Act also was the cause for removing content and selling it as dlc. They wanted microtransactions. Yes they dumped a lot of money into destiny but they also caused most of its problems. But even with Alums of that Bungie was stil able to put out two fun games that while not critically acclaimed are still played by a lot of gamers daily. Them leaving Activision is great news for the franchise.

@Bread_or_Decide: Because now they don't have to worry about demands from Shittyvision. If the third game sucks, it's all on them... not because their publisher told them to piece meal the story to players.

And who's the special kind of stupid who made a ten year deal with activision? BUNGIE.

Jesus, you people. Bungie made the game. At the end of the day it's on them how it turned out. They signed the deal, they made the game, they're the developer.

The first two shitty games are already on them. They aren't going to magically unsuck this awful IP.

Bungies only hope was to go back to MS, but i doubt MS would take them back.

I'm betting Sony will back them for an exclusive Destiny 3 (then the series will be great i can hear the cows screaming it now lol) or Destiny 3's Kickstarter will be announced at Sony's E3 conference this year, oh wait scratch the last one lol.

Seems like the Activision hate is glossing over Bungie mediocrity. Nice.

@i_p_daily: Seeing as MS can't make a good Halo anymore, they'd probably welcome them back with open arms.

@Bread_or_Decide: The gameplay is solid. The game being piece mealed is on Activision.

@fedor: On what scale are you defining "good"

@i_p_daily: Ask a clearer question.

@fedor: Do you define good by sales, scores, or your personal experience from playing it, or all of the above, or even neither?

Sorry my bad i forgot where i was for a second, thought i was on a different site where i didn't have to dumb it down for people to understand lol.

@i_p_daily: No, your question was just vague. Dont really care about sales. But the rest, sure. Bungie is better than 343 at making Halo games. 1-Reach over 4,5, and MCC disaster.

@fedor: So you don't care about sales but the rest sure.

Well didn't Halo 5 get an 8 (i could be wrong) here which Gamespot defines as great, and the game is sitting at 80 something on Metashitic, so then by your own definition the game is indeed good, even great.

@i_p_daily: Am I handcuffed to only metacritic accredited reviews? And how does your point in anyway defeat mine? Bungie halo over 343.

Nice, hopefully Blizzard will also run away from Activision.

Now we'll see if the problem was Activision or Bungie that screw up Destiny in the first place. Destiny had so much potential as an new IP, and the first 2 games have a lot of really good qualities, they're just held back by so many flaws and Microtransactions BS.

@fedor: Ah so you're trying to change the narrative now because it doesn't work out for you.

The fact is you replied to me stating that MS can't make a "good" Halo game.

Then i asked for your criteria on deciding what you thougjt was good.

Thirdly I used your criteria to prove that by your definition Halo 5 was good.

And lastly you want to try and change the discussion to Bungie is better than 343. That was never the discussion and won't work with me as i don't care about either :)

PS...pick your SW battles more carefully next time newbie lol.

Well that’s certainly some good news to hear. I did enjoy both Destiny 1 and 2 up to a point but the way some of the content and that was handled kind of put me off at a certain point. It will definitely be interesting to see how things turn out with Destiny 3.

I'm curious as to who will distribute Destiny 3. Continue kn battlenet? Go to steam?

... EPIC?!

Edit: on PC of course

@i_p_daily: They can't. 4 and 5 were mediocre at best. That is going to be the legacy of those titles. MCC was released and remained a mess for years. Bungie made great Halo games, 343 doesn't. Hence MS would welcome Bungie back with open arms. You can feel different if you want, as long as you remember your place in the severe minority, we good.

So, there's a chance that Destiny 3 might not be crap? I actually love the premise of an MMO shooter, but the way content updates have been delivered is simply broken. No game should be a grind for the sake of limited gains. It has not been worth the investment of time. Progression tiers seem to be unbalanced as a result which leaves a game that should otherwise be a joyful time-sink turns into a complete chore.

If they can get that formula right without having a publisher breathing down their neck to bleed their customers to death to get a complete product out of the gate, Destiny could be something great. Pacing. They need pacing. That takes content. Maybe twice as much content as what Destiny 2 launched with to make progression smooth to the end-game. What they do after that will sell far more expansions because they will have compelled the gamer with the initial climb/investment rather than piss everyone off that there is a cliff to pass to do any and everything after the last cutscene rolls.

@fedor: We've already established you were wrong by using your own criteria, so yes we're good :)

@Bread_or_Decide: They were stupid for going with Activision, nobody is arguing that. But without going that route MS wasnt going to let them do Destiny, they would have been stuck making Halo for the last 8 years.

With that said are you really this dense? Again most of the issues with the game are THINGS ACTIVISION WANTED AND FORCED BUNGIE TO DO. Bungie was screwed over by them, any of this sinking in yet?

@i_p_daily: My own criteria? I said I use reviews and my own personal feelings, you're the one trying to make arbitrary rules up to support your weak points. Sad. Bungie over 343. MS would welcome them back.

PS: remember your place.

'Bungie is going to be awesome when they leave Microsoft.'

*3yrs Later

'Bungie is going to be awesome when they leave Activision.'

#Chumps

@Shewgenja:

Time will tell, but at least Bungie will no longer be beholden to a bunch of suits who think the best response to a dwindling player base is more microtransactions.

Interested to see if the problem has been Bungie or if its been Activision!

@fedor: I do my place is destroying people like you with your own criteria lol.

Have a nice day :)

@i_p_daily:

That makes Bungie indie.

Now that they are Free, i am really hoping they would just do something new. Destiny did not do it for me at all.

Bungie lost a lot of people that mostly went to 343 and some to other studios. No doubt they regret that Activision deal and it showed rather quickly. Also seemed like a big middle finger to MS they way they did the marketing deal with Sony. Not sure they have a way back to MS's good graces even with the new leadership.

I'd love to play Destiny 3 if it had a quality single player campaign, but they'll probably keep it an MMO focused shooter. I really miss Bungie...

Blizzard hasn't really done anything all that great the last 5 years, so this news is ho-hum to me.

Bungie are shit, and I guarantee it is Activision letting them go and not so much Bungie leaving.

If you think Activision is letting go something still with two years left under contract, that is profitable and still has potential to keep earning money, then you are an idiot. They no doubt decided to cut and run as opposed to pouring money into a dead franchise.

I hope they turn it around and make something great, but I'm guessing it won't be long and we will see that it wasn't Activision holding them back, it's just Bungie are shit.

Yeah, probably one of the most overrated devs.

Halo on the OG XBOX was a fine game, and a classic in it's own right. But I felt like Halo 3 (and ODST) was one of the most overrated games of last gen. Halo games really became a mediocre product as time went on even when Bungie was still fully in charge of them, MS just marketed the shit out of that franchise (turning them into everything from legos to toys).

Admittedly, I haven't even tried Destiny franchise because it looks like more derivative shit to me. But everything I've seen and read about it indicates it's not really something I would want to sink time or $$$ into.

In the gaming business world, an independent developer pitches a game idea to a publisher and signs a deal. In Bungie's case, they pitched the idea for Destiny and signed a decade long deal. Majority of publishers want some sort of say in the game as they're the one footing the bill. It generally takes a long time of partnership and trust between the two parties for the developer to have total creative control and freedom. The only publisher known to really allow their devs to do this is Sony with their own internal studios.

Intriguing. Destiny 2 seems ok. Definitely hour a compete experience without friends, but I've had fun puttering around with it

lol destiny 3 will be even worse. The less money used on the game means less production values.

they are going to have to cut some corners without activision's backing.

pretty sure the first game cost 500 million dollars....i don't see them having as good as production value for the third one at all

I don't really care about the snoozefest of Destiny, but the more independent studios, the better.

Does this mean Bungie will have their own storefront as well now? Or will it simply be an independent studio and distribute multiple places? Hopefully the latter.

Can't wait to see what Bungie does when they hold the reins to their own future. They were a great studio, once, and can be again.

The cynic in me is convinced, however, that given Destiny 2's lackluster performance (they were giving away the game for free, and couldn't sell enough of the DLC) Activision was probably this close *pinches fingers together* to closing the studio. I reckon some of Bungie's leadership pooled money together and bought the rights. Giant places like Activision don't do things lightly, but they also won't think twice about shutting down a large studio if it's not profitable.

Anyway, I am blathering; good for Bungie! I hope and daresay I expect them to do great things!

If the gameplay is improved, I could give two shits about the "production values". The polish is already there; Bungie is a major studio dating back to 1991, they know how to create, develop, and ship a finished and quality product.

I don't need fancy cutscenes and overpaid actors in my games when the gameplay and art direction are fantastic. Hey I love Nathan Fillion and Bill Nighy, no disrespect, but I don't need to go "Hey that's Nathan Fillion and Bill Nighy in my video game!!!!" to enjoy it.

Destiny is also a visually stunning game, but not particularly impressive from a technical standpoint, though it's no slouch, either.

TL;DR: I Don't think the quality of Destiny will suffer from a lack of "production values"; if anything, I expect the quality in more important areas to improve.

Update:

Couple of juicy tidbits here:

1. This has been in the works for years, apparently due to tensions in their relationship.

2. When this was announced, Bungie devs cheered loudly.

If this is true, it definitely sounds like it was Bungie who jumped and not Activision who pushed.

Good on them. F*** Activision Blizzard.