Over eight years have passed since Bungie joined Activision in 2010, with a planned 10-year publishing deal that would eventually lead to Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017). However, that contract appears to have expired just short of its original agreement, with Activision announcing that the two companies will be splitting up and going their separate ways as of January 10, 2019. Developer Bungie will be able to keep the rights to its IP created with Activision, Destiny, and will be in charge of all facets of the game from here on out, including publishing and marketing. For players, not much will immediately change, as Destiny 2 will still be available on BattleNet regardless of the split and any upcoming game events are still on track. Regarding the separation, Bungie stated that the company is thankful for Activision's help, but that they're also excited to move on and continue creating their game on their own, while Activision focuses on its other IPs that it still owns.

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.

Source

 

[Varia]

Probably a smart decision for Activision, letting loose of a sinking ship.

 

[eyeliner]

Probably a smart decision for Activision, letting loose of a sinking ship.

I agree. Bungie needs to go back to its roots. They where spoiled when under Microsoft.

 

[oxitran]

FREEDOM!

 

[Zeriel]

Don't be fooled! The only decent Devs with a shred of humanity at Bungie left a LONG time ago.

Bungie today it's just a dead husk of former Activision employees who have been just as shady and
just as greedy with Destiny.

This is not the Bungie from the Halo days, those guys are not coming back and Destiny is not even a good IP...

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Yooo that's great! Hope the guys that made my namesake games deliver something awesome again soon.

 

[Dimensional]

I don't know if this split will help or hurt them. It is known that Activision is responsible for forcing a complete change to the entire story of Destiny 1, I don't know if they were the reason why Destiny 2 retconned virtually everything from D1 and the poor writing for the DLC. I think Acti is just splitting because they are trying to cut ties to something they broke, and to say it wasn't them who broke it. No clue for sure, but regardless, this news is a bit bitter-sweet.

 

[Axmand]

Now all we need is for Blizzard to do the same..ugh.

Agreed... sadly we will have to wait lot of time before this can happen...

 

[VartioArtel]

Don't be fooled! The only decent Devs with a shred of humanity at Bungie left a LONG time ago.

Bungie today it's just a dead husk of former Activision employees who have been just as shady and
just as greedy with Destiny.

This is not the Bungie from the Halo days, those guys are not coming back and Destiny is not even a good IP...

Sorry what? Activision never had a single member in Bungie. Where the hell are you even getting these ideas? I'm pretty sure you're either memeing using Blizzard as a basis (as those two companies - Blizzard and Activision, ARE linked intrinsically), or are so misinformed reality is flipping in your mind.

 

[FAST6191]

Never actually learned what Destiny was about, saw a few things of people complaining but "some scifi shooter" is about as far as I go. Happy to see some churn in the gaming industry though.

I agree. Bungie needs to go back to its roots. They where spoiled when under Microsoft.

While not impossible I would have to ask how many would really know them for anything they did before Halo these days?

 

[Jayro]

I don't care for Activision OR Destiny, but I'm glad bungue told Activision to fuck off.

 

[SS4]

Meh, Destiny . . . Been having much more fun with Warframe for free

 

[SuperDan]

Good Destiny was such a con job and a complete flop .... Yeh Maybe a New Halo Series .. Hopefully something completely new from Bungie

 

[eyeliner]

While not impossible I would have to ask how many would really know them for anything they did before Halo these days?

True. Aside from Marathon and Myth (great game), they have a few little gems here and there. I liked Oni very much.

 

[FAST6191]

I too have a certain fondness for Oni but wasn't that a spinoff much akin to what does/did with all its various studios?

 

[Esjay131]

Thank god, Bungie really didn't do too well with Activision like they did Microsoft. Microsoft let them have their creative freedom and hopefully Destiny 3 gets published by a respectable publisher like Microsoft.

 

[Lumstar]

This is very interesting news. I do wonder how they managed to do it. Not only did they get out of a 10 year contract at only 9 years, they also got to keep their IP, AND from one of the greediest scumbaggiest publishers to have ever existed. Developers splitting from publishers is not anything new, no matter who the publisher is, but being able to KEEP their IP is the real big news here. That almost never happens. Especially from Activision.

While I'm not into Destiny since it has very little to offer for solo players, I'm very interested to see what Bungie will be able to do now. Hopefully they'll be able to salvage something from the hot ever-burning dumpster fire that is Destiny 2. I actually wonder if that isn't why Activision let them keep their IP. If Activision feels that Destiny's reputation has been drowned in mud enough that it's not worth holding on to, I could see even them letting it go. Regardless of how much faith one has or doesn't have in Bungie, it will be interesting to see what they do next. I wish them luck.

Activision did not acquire Bungie or the IP to begin with.

 

[foob]

Fascinating contract.
If only Bizarre Creations could have inked a similar deal so Activision could not end up killing them.

1. Keep the IP.
2. Tell us to get stuffed when the contract is up.
3. Make whatever you want (using the IP you own) when the contract is up.

Maybe then Bizarre Creations would still exist and I'd be playing Blur 2. Yes, I'm still bitter.