Bungie Takes Over Destiny Publishing from Activision After Split
It’s all over folks. Bungie and Activision called it quits on their mutual publishing partnership which has been fraught with squabbling between the parties since the beginning of the proposed 10-year deal. Many gaming industry pundits say that the reason for the long-term bickering stems from the original deal being poorly constructedin the first place. Others tell the story that Activision’s consistent post-launch monetization problems caused for an overcrowding of content (unnecessary loot boxes) that caused Destiny 2 to underperform. With the Bungie/Activision relationship now toast, let’s look into what will happen next for both mega companies.
Joint Statement
After nearly 9 years into their 10-year partnership with Activision, Bungie released a statement detailing the ending of their relationship with Activision and the seamless transition that is being planned to take place during the rest of 2019. Not long after, Activision released a joint statement on Twitter with a high-level overview of what will happen next for both companies following the mutual split:
Before partnering with Activision, Bungie was previously owned by Microsoft where the studio developed the first three Halogames. After years of being in Microsoft’s shadow, Bungie separated with Microsoft and left them with the rights to the massively popular galactic first-person shooter (FPS) game which is now one of the cornerstone games that come with a new Xbox console release.
Tensions Mounting
There have been plenty of documented tensions between the two companies that have been mounting over the years due to the games failing to meet Activision’s sales standards. Even though most games in the Destiny franchise have been fan favorites thus far, the sales haven’t been there since after the initial release. With this in mind, fans of the franchise are thrilled at the prospect of Bungie leaving Activision for greener pastures like they did with Microsoft and the Halo franchise. Many fans in the Destiny community many feel that the split signals a rebirth for the franchise since Bungie will now have the full creative control that they need to make games that are truly geared towards the wants of the community.
What’s Next?
Bungie and Activision have been making moves in recent months that have signaled the premature end of their partnership. Bungie partnered with tech and gaming giant, NetEase after the Chinese company purchased a majority stake in Bungie in 2018. This move opens up avenues for expanding globally for Bungie. Activision, on the other hand, has had a rocky past few months after going through an executive shake-up and talking about cutting costs at its biggest subsidiary, Blizzard. One caveat to Activision dropping their rights to Destiny is that it now clears their schedule to focus on their lone owned IP: Call of Duty.
What do you think of this separation of massive gaming forces?
