Destiny developer Bungie is ending its 10-yearlong partnership with publisher Activision. And it’s an industry-shaking divorce.
In their statement, Activision said that Bungie would own the Destiny franchise and assume full publishing rights for it.
“Today, we’re announcing plans for Bungie to assume full publishing rights and responsibilities for the Destiny franchise. Going forward, Bungie will own and develop the franchise, and Activision will increase its focus on owned IP and other projects. Activision and Bungie are committed to a seamless transition for the Destiny franchise and will continue to work closely together during the transition on behalf of the community of Destiny players around the world.”
The developer has commented that the process of handing over the IP has already begun and that they are committed to making the transition as seamless as possible. Blizzard confirmed that Destiny 2 would still receive full support on BattleNet and that they don’t foresee any disruptions to the service.
Over the past few years, Destiny 2 has mostly gone from strength to strength – although the game did have a fair share of highs and lows with Activision, who even stated that the game’s Forsaken expansion did not reach their commercial expectations as far as sales were concerned.
In their statement, Bungie also thanked players for their continued support and acknowledged that they were aware that self-publishing would be challenging but that they believe that this was the best move to help them grow as an independent global studio and build the franchise.
“Thank you so much for your continued support. Our success is owed in no small part to the incredible community of players who have graced our worlds with light and life. We know self-publishing won’t be easy; there’s still much for us to learn as we grow as an independent, global studio, but we see unbounded opportunities and potential in Destiny.”
