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[Parallax Scroll]

fuck yeah marathon

 

[Domino Theory]

Excellent move by Microsoft, imo, having the first game tied to the 360 and 720, at least in the beginning.

 

[Nirolak]

I don't think Reach pulled this off, did it?

It's shipped, so I would be surprised if it didn't.

However, if it did fail to hit that bar, Activision also doesn't have to terminate the project, they just get the option to if they so please.

 

[OverHeat]

This is why Bungie released Marathon for IOS and their motto has been See you Starside as of late (catch-phrase of the Humans in Marathon series)

Its been their moto since halo 3, no?

 

[Infinite Justice]

Seriously sucks that Bungie are tied to such a contract. I remember being so dismayed at the original announcement and this rubs salt in the wound. Sounds like a cool idea and like what we've all been expecting.

To be fair the IP belongs to them so if this is what is needed they seem cool with it.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I don't think Reach pulled this off, did it?

Reach sold 3.3 million in its first month and that is only counting North America and nothing else.

 

[demosthenes]

Excellent move by Microsoft, imo, having the first game tied to the 360 and 720, at least in the beginning.

Is that Microsoft or is it Bungie learning the PS3 for ONE game?

 

[Loudninja]

Great find.

I've made it into an image here so it gets more attention.

Man I really cant believe they agreed to something like this.

 

[cuyahoga]

This contract makes me chuckle. Wasnt the main reason they wanted out of the MS umbrella was to not have to do more Halo (aka sci-fi shooters)?

No, they just wanted a version of Halo owned by Bungie, not Microsoft

 

[MrDaravon]

Does Bungie have a staff count where they have enough people to basically have Destiny be their funding project, then have other teams working on whatever they want to and then do some staff cycle-through on the Destiny stuff to avoid burnout?

 

[Nirolak]

Why does it suck? This is probably what they wanted.

Also I'm surprised how quickly they want to drop ps3 but keep 360. Ps3 version of destiny 1 is never coming.

Yeah this contract is actually so good for Bungie that EA thought they couldn't make worthwhile money on it relative to investing the money elsewhere (i.e. Battlefield/MoH/etc).

 

[I Stalk Alone]

Do these money hats get calculated in MS financials at the end of the year as a loss for their entertainement devices (XBOX) division? Is it just attributed as part of the game budget or part of a discount in the publishing royalty?

 

[Y2Kev]

It's shipped, so I would be surprised if it didn't.

The reach one is sold-in, but I thought he was asking if reach sold through that many in six months. Do you know?

This creates an interesting scenario for activision. If they wanted out of the contract--and who knows why that would be--they could just not market destiny 1 at all. Boom, bomba, and out. I wonder if ther are any agreements around marketing.

 

[hym]

I can imagine the release of this document will cause some disappointment with Bungie staff, not because it leaks so much but outside management and senior directors a lot of the details of the agreement probably weren't known at all.

So many years on the same property after Halo can't be what they all were looking forward to, the tightness of the release schedule especially, some may consider it a step backwards.

Oh well for the employees that have to find out this way, in the long run it's probably best you do now than in a couple years.

 

[maquiladora]

Leaks of stuff releasing up until 2020, lol, holy shit....

King of Leaks all up in this thread.

 

[JordanLMiller]

This is like an anti-megaton for me. Sequels through 2020 planned from the start?

 

[Nirolak]

The reach one is sold-in, but I thought he was asking if reach sold through that many in six months. Do you know?

This creates an interesting scenario for activision. If they wanted out of the contract--and who knows why that would be--they could just not market destiny 1 at all. Boom, bomba, and out. I wonder if ther are any agreements around marketing.

I think there's a marketing clause in this contract.

Let me look more though, it's lengthy.

As for sell through, I think stump would be the best to ask.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Reach sold 3.3 million in its first month and that is only counting North America and nothing else.

Yeah, I doubt they had much difficulty shipping 6 million in 6 months worldwide.

 

[Mama Robotnik]

This has ramifications across the industry, I imagine Activision's competitors are gleefully loving every moment of this. A chance to see the binding agreements of their business rivals, not to mention a provisional timetable of game releases to work around. The Presidents of EA, Ubisoft and Take-Two are probably adding late-night reading to their evening plans.

Its pure gold.

 

[faceless007]

Game reviewers whose reviews are aggregated by Gamerankings.com now have an uncomfortable amount of power over Bungie, now that this is public.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I like how they wrote Xbox 720 lol wtf? Why not next generation consoles. 720 just seems like a ridiculous name to put in an official document.

Lol seriously...

 

[OverHeat]

Game reviewers whose reviews are aggregated by Gamerankings.com now have an uncomfortable amount of power over Bungie, now that this is public.

Ding ding ding we have a winner!

 

[OldJadedGamer]

This has ramifications across the industry, I imagine Activision's competitors are gleefully loving every moment of this. A chance to see the binding agreements of their business rivals, not to mention a provisional timetable of game releases to work around.

Its pure gold.

What is the lesson here? Your dirty laundry can get aired when you go around suing everyone.

 

[maquiladora]

Great find.

I've made it into an image here so it gets more attention.

My god. Metacritic? Jesus fucking christ, that is disgraceful.

 

[AgentChris]

Great deal for Activision and MS. Not sure about Bungie; if the game fails they will keep a tainted IP if the game is a success it will get milked to dust like Guitar Hero and COD.

 

[Mama Robotnik]

What is the lesson here? Your dirty laundry can get aired when you go around suing everyone.

That's quite a big one, certainly.

 

[bigtroyjon]

I don't think Reach pulled this off, did it?

easily pulled it off, sell in means shipped.

 

[Dysun]

Bungie goes from making Halo to other sci fi fps
Welp quite the leap there

 

[Infinite Justice]

god damn

 

[MrDaravon]

My god. Metacritic? Jesus fucking christ, that is disgraceful.

It's pretty well-known at this point that most contracts specifically involve that in regards to bonuses, etc. Doesn't make it okay, but I'm surprised anyone is shocked about that at this point.

 

[RebornYeti]

Hopefully the new Marathon won't induce seizures like Durandal did.

Seriously, playing that game hurt my head.

 

[Plywood]

Bungie goes from making Halo to other sci fi fps
Welp quite the leap there

Stick to your strengths. Besides, it's all about the money.

 

[Deadly Joker]

So now I'll have the dilemma of getting it for my Xbox 360 or my newly purchased Xbox 720...


I think I'll go with my new Xbox.

 

[Conor 419]

easily pulled it off, sell in means shipped.

In which case, good move Microscopic Software.

 

[Ryaaan14]

This thread went from omg to holy fucking horsetits in like an hour.

Absolutely crazy stuff.

 

[butter_stick]

Why is it disgraceful to have a bonus for a well reviewed game? I feel like I'm missing something. It may not be a perfect science but it's as close as we're gonna get to judging if a game is "good" or not in the eyes of critics.

 

[stalker]

So I was thinking 2 hours ago that today has been an interesting day on GAF and just when I am considering going to bed (I'm in Europe) we get this huge leak.

I am on page 10 of the document, this is really big. Although nothing is really surprising here, the fact that the whole 10 year plan is leaked prior to even the first teaser for the first game is amazing. I agree with those saying that this is one of the biggest leak ever.

 

[snoopeasystreet]

Great deal for Activision and MS. Not sure about Bungie; if the game fails they will keep a tainted IP if the game is a success it will get milked to dust like Guitar Hero and COD.

Even if Activision dropped them, I bet someone else would pick them up for at least one game regardless of how tainted the IP is.

 

[maquiladora]

It's pretty well-known at this point that most contracts specifically involve that in regards to bonuses, etc. Doesn't make it okay, but I'm surprised anyone is shocked about that at this point.

Oh I'd heard stories of that. But to actual seeing that in a legal document with my own eyes...its disgusting.

 

[Conor 419]

By the way, chums. Back to my question, is there a good chance this'll show at E Tri?

 

[Afrikan]

Game reviewers whose reviews are aggregated by Gamerankings.com now have an uncomfortable amount of power over Bungie, now that this is public.

I chose the wrong profession.

Power, ^ he has it.

 

[Raonak]

-Activision can terminate the contract without penalty if Destiny doesn't sell at least 5 million units in the first six months, or for any reason they please after the second expansion pack releases.

good god. thats gonna be tough.
>5 million
>first 6 months
>single platform


guess thats what you get when you sign the devil's contract.
I have trouble seeing how that would happen. Halo could do that because it's a flagship game. and MS advertises the shit out of it.
and COD is COD.


I don't get why they did this, They wanted to go third party, for more freedom i assume.
Then went to Activision.... to make back to back sifi shooter games.

 

[Chinner]

so has bungie not learned anything from being by microsoft then?

"oh hey we want to be free from ownership and not make the same game all the time. oh hey activision whats that lets make the same game 3 times in a row wow sign me up *spreads cheeks*"

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Why is it disgraceful to have a bonus for a well reviewed game? I feel like I'm missing something. It may not be a perfect science but it's as close as we're gonna get to judging if a game is "good" or not in the eyes of critics.

Because the "critics" are actually friends of the publishers and developers and easily swayed. There are no real critics of games.

 

[Tunavi]

http://source.bungie.org/

Free download for all three marathon games here.

Durandal is my favorite, but if anyone is interested, they are great old-school shooters with extraordinary atmospheres.

 

[MrDaravon]

Why is it disgraceful to have a bonus for a well reviewed game? I feel like I'm missing something. It may not be a perfect science but it's as close as we're gonna get to judging if a game is "good" or not in the eyes of critics.

Probably the biggest issue (realistically) is that review scores =/= sales. Like someone pointed out earlier, Fallout New Vegas sold millions of copies and was undoubtedly hugely profitable for Betheseda, but no bonuses were paid to the developer because they were one point short on Metacritic.

 

[Nirolak]

good god. thats gonna be tough.
>5 million
>first 6 months
>single platform


guess thats what you get when you sign the devil's contract.

I don't get why they did this, They wanted to go third party, for more freedom i assume.
Then went to Activision.... to make back to back sifi shooter games.

Technically it will be two platforms unless Microsoft doesn't release the Xbox 720 in Fall 2013.

 

[faceless007]

It's pretty well-known at this point that most contracts specifically involve that in regards to bonuses, etc. Doesn't make it okay, but I'm surprised anyone is shocked about that at this point.

It's a different thing now, though, because it's been made public. Game reviewers who read this story will now have that at the back of their heads when they start writing the review in 2 years. I'm not even suggesting there will be pressure from Bungie on them; but reviewers who have positive feelings for Bungie and want to see them succeed might feel an indirect obligation to inflate the score; those who for whatever reason don't and want to spite them might feel the opposite. This grants them a degree of indirect control over the developer's financials. And given the typical objectivity, maturity, and fanboyish tendencies of most game reviewers, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

good god. thats gonna be tough.
>5 million
>first 6 months
>single platform

guess thats what you get when you sign the devil's contract.

I don't get why they did this, They wanted to go third party, for more freedom i assume.
Then went to Activision.... to make back to back sifi shooter games.

Again, Bungie's last game on a single platform sold 3.3 million in the first month and that is *only* counting North America.

 

[Shiggy]

so has bungie not learned anything from being by microsoft then?

"oh hey we want to be free from ownership and not make the same game all the time. oh hey activision whats that lets make the same game 3 times in a row wow sign me up *spreads cheeks*"

I really don't understand why they left Microsoft.