Bungie splits from publisher Activision, retains ‘Destiny’ IP

MANILA, Philippines – Video game studio Bungie announced Thursday, January 10 (January 11, Manila time) it was parting ways with publisher Activision after 8 years of joining forces, adding it will now self-publish Destiny 2.

“With Activision, we created something special,” Bungie wrote in a blog post, adding the Destiny franchise has sold over 50 million games and expansions in its lifespan. 

“Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie,” the game maker said. “With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects.”

It added the transition process was already underway, with both parties working to ensure a seamless handoff of the intellectual property and game. 

Unhappy with Destiny’s sales?

While there’s no formal reason behind the split, speculation is that it may be due to lackluster sales of Destiny 2.

In November 2018, Activision said during an earnings call it was unhappy with Destiny‘s sales, saying, “Some of our other franchises like Destiny are not performing as well as we’d like.”

Despite this, Bungie soldiers on, likely with some safety provided for by NetEase, which invested about $100 million into Bungie back in June. 

Continued support

Blizzard Entertainment, which has Destiny 2 on its Battlenet game launcher, meanwhile said the game will “receive full support” on the Battlenet platform.

Destiny 2 will still receive full support on BattleNet and we do not anticipate any disruption to our services or your gameplay experience. https://t.co/FFOE1iae3R

— BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS) January 10, 2019

– Rappler.com