Bungie formed a 10-year publishing deal with Activision back in 2010 some years after the studio split off from Microsoft to go solo, and now that partnership has come to an end as well, earlier than planned. The two companies announced today that they are going their separate ways, with the full ownership of the Destiny IP being transferred over to Bungie.
According to a blog post elaborating on the process, Bungie said that this transition won"t affect Destiny 2"s upcoming content schedule. "We’ll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap" the studio explained. "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."
The PC version of Destiny 2 will continue getting support through Activision-partner Blizzard"s Battle.net client as usual, with the company assuring players, "we do not anticipate any disruption to our services or your gameplay experience." However, it"s unlikely that any future games that Bungie may bring out on PC will be exclusive to Battle.net.
The studio closed out its blog post while thanking the community and adding that it knows there will be hardships when it comes to self-publishing:
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.
Among various other individuals, even the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer jumped in to wish the studio a bright future following the announcement. We will have to wait and see what path will Bungie opt to take with the Destiny franchise now that it is fully in control.