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Bungie Splits With Activision, Keeps Destiny

ookami

Member
Vicarious Visions did not handle the pc version. That was Bungie
Maybe not "handling", my bad, wrong choice of words. But Vicarious Visions did port Destiny 2 to PC. Weren't they the one to handle game optimization on the platform too?
 

DonF

Member
They could turn destiny into what Warframe is right now. Launch one game at the begging of the gen, update the fuck out of it, support it ...make it good. See how people will keep playing/paying for the game.
 

highrider

Banned
They were really dumb to abandon Halo. I don’t think Destiny has built much value as a brand. And 343 has devalued Halo.
 
You know what's really telling? The vast amount of good will on this split for Bungie. It's almost like people, by and large, dislike the major publishers and want to see developers do well without them.
 

ethomaz

Banned
You have numbers for that? Halo 2 & 3 releases were events like GTA's or Star wars movies.
You are comparing release events or how bigger a game is? lol

Destiny had more population than Halo ever had at peak.

So it is bigger... btw Halo never reached anything close to GTA even if the launch event marketing was somehow similar.

You can draw picture at peak of each franchise: GTA > CoD > Destiny > Battlefield > Halo
 
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D2 I would imagine would stay until the publishing deal is over. Details of the deal may have changed as we were still looking at d2 content into the late half of 2020.

I’d rather it all go under the Bungie umbrella sooner than later and not just with d3. We should expect some details with each weekly Bungie blog tho.

What’s the biggest independent game developer if Bungie is second largest?
maybe CD Project Red?
 

Wimbledon

Member
I was happy about the news, but i still need to wait and see. I haven't played destiny 2 since the first 2 weeks of black armory.

Many things must be/have been fixed in destiny 2 , and they need to go above and beyond in Destiny 3. Cause now if they drop the ball we can no longer point to Activision as the problem.

Nonetheless i'm legitimately happy they escaped the evil clutches of the Activision empire.
 
Halo 2 & 3 releases were events like GTA's or Star wars movies.
They aspired to have SW/GTA sales and so they were marketed as such (it was Microsoft's flagship IP), but they didn't pull in the same numbers.

As for Destiny being bigger than Halo ever was.. it's definitely possible. Keep in mind it's nearly been a decade since the last universally praised Halo game.


Anyway, as for the news at hand: just wonderful. Cannot wait to see a Destiny without Activision looming over Bungie's shoulders.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
Well it is...

Destiny at peak had bigger population than Halo at peak... I don't know how anybody can deny that.

More gamers played Destiny than Halo.

I don’t even understand what the issue with Destiny being bigger than Halo... it is on more platforms than Halo.
 
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Roobtoob

Neo Member
Well it is...

Destiny at peak had bigger population than Halo at peak... I don't know how anybody can deny that.

More gamers played Destiny than Halo.

I don’t even understand what the issue with Destiny being bigger than Halo... it is on more platforms than Halo.

While I love and play Destiny 2 pretty religiously I'd have to argue against it being bigger than Halo. Halo pretty much kept the Xbox afloat during launch and was monumental in how we view modern day console fps games.

While you may be right that more people are playing Destiny than Halo on a daily basis. Halo's influence and creative contributions to the industry will forever cast Destiny in its shadow.

Which sucks because I do prefer Halo multiplayer over Destiny before 343 ran it to the ground. Give me Destiny 2 PVE with Halo (Bungie developed) PVP and I'd be a happy camper.
 

Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
Now Destiny blends with Halo and becomes perfect.

I really doubt that. So many gamers have this unfounded notion that everything bad in Destiny 2 is Activision's fault, but that's not really the case. I wouldn't be surprised if Activision pushed for microtransactions and more aggressive DLC, but even then that's not certain. It won't be surprising if Bungie changes Destiny's direction without Activision's involvement, but it's far from guaranteed that it'll be the game everyone was hoping for.
 

Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
While I love and play Destiny 2 pretty religiously I'd have to argue against it being bigger than Halo. Halo pretty much kept the Xbox afloat during launch and was monumental in how we view modern day console fps games.

While you may be right that more people are playing Destiny than Halo on a daily basis. Halo's influence and creative contributions to the industry will forever cast Destiny in its shadow.

Which sucks because I do prefer Halo multiplayer over Destiny before 343 ran it to the ground. Give me Destiny 2 PVE with Halo (Bungie developed) PVP and I'd be a happy camper.

It feels like you and ethomaz are arguing based on wholly separate definitions of what "bigger" is. You think it's bigger in terms of symbolic impact, but ethomaz is arguing more based on raw commercial success. In that sense, you're both right. Halo was crucial to the Xbox's early success, but the Destiny franchise has likely outsold it due to both the expansion of the gaming market and availability on other platforms.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
While I love and play Destiny 2 pretty religiously I'd have to argue against it being bigger than Halo. Halo pretty much kept the Xbox afloat during launch and was monumental in how we view modern day console fps games.

While you may be right that more people are playing Destiny than Halo on a daily basis. Halo's influence and creative contributions to the industry will forever cast Destiny in its shadow.

Which sucks because I do prefer Halo multiplayer over Destiny before 343 ran it to the ground. Give me Destiny 2 PVE with Halo (Bungie developed) PVP and I'd be a happy camper.
I never said Halo is not more influential to the industry...

That didn't change Destiny at peak was bigger than Halo at peak.

Of course Destiny 2 drop was really brutal compared with Destiny even so it is still huge... it is probably in the TOP5 most played game of this generation (the onlly certain is that GTAV, CoD and FIFA are ahead it).
 
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Owari

Member
I have to say I am shocked that the split happened and that Activision did not get to keep the IP. Bungie did a terrible
Job meeting their end of the deal. We should have Destiny 3 by now with expansions.

I wonder if Activision felt the third game was going to do poorly and end up costing far more to publish then they could recover with sales.

I personally have stopped with Destiny after they announced that forsaken and the new season pass were going to cost as much or more than a new game; that is ridiculous especially after the crappy first season pass. Bungie is no friend of gamers.
This is exclusively Activision’s fault.
 
Bungie have shown that they are able to make good games and I welcome the fact that they managed to free themselves from the shackles of a corporate publisher. After the travesty that was Tony Hawk 5, the insane fleecing practices in CoD (red dot anyone?) and the hyperbolic sales expectations for Destiny Forsaken, Activison has quite clearly proven that they are not interested in making great games, but aim to please investors first. I'm looking forward to see in which direction they are going to take Destiny, now that Bungie have only got themselves to blame.

I kinda doubt though that Bungie had to fight too hard to go separate ways from Activision. It's no mystery that Destiny 2 didn't meet Activision's sales expectations, so this could merely be a case of Activision cutting their losses. The separation could also be the result of Bungie standing up against the harsher micro-transaction practices that were announced by Activision after Forsaken didn't meet their expectations. So I guess them parting ways was a mutual decision.

If you look at CD Projekt Red and Warhorse Studios, it can be hugely beneficial for development studios to go independent. With Destiny, Bungie have shown that they are interested in developing their own IPs so I hardly doubt they will go back to developing another Halo under Microsoft. That being said, the 100 mio. Netease investment leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so it could go either way. Going forward I hope Bungie will succeed as going independent is a net benefit for their creative output unrestrained by investor focused publisher interests.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
This could be a precedent that other publishers are gonna try to defend against I bet. Imagine Respawn knocking it out of the park with their Star Wars game and then trying to get out with Titanfall in hand. Titanfall 2 is severely underrated (for those who say PS4 has terrible FPS...well, there's a bone). With Titanfall 3 (?) more than likely being a next gen game...they could really some damage should they be able to break the shackles too.

Better yet...Bioware. Get outta there after Anthem, which will be amazing by the way. I can feel it.
 
I have to imagine there was some contention with Eververse, too.

Bungie got a lot of crap for that early on, but you just have to look at COD to see it's way tamer than what Activision would come up with.

I'm hoping the DLC schedule and format get changed to something that's better for everyone. Here's to hoping for a more hands-on Bungie in between content drops too.
 

Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
Bungie clearly was not happy with Activision and their tendency for sequelritis that they barged it.

Interesting development, to say the least.
 

NickFire

Member
It's been close to a year since I spent 10 minutes playing this game. Of everything I read during that time, this gives me more hope for its future than anything else. Not getting too excited, but feeling optimistic to see how things shake out.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
a lot of people are happy about this and i guess it could be good but i question how capable Bungie are of developing + publishing their games. this has me kind of worried for Destiny 3.

also i don't think we're getting the whole truth here. likely Activision came to their senses and realised that Destiny is a lost cause and came to an agreement to ditch it.

Honestly i think that eventually Bungie will either A) release Destiny 3, which might actually be a good game, but it won't sell anywhere near what 1 + 2 did. B) they will enter a contract with another publisher.

Bungie clearly was not happy with Activision and their tendency for sequelritis that they barged it.

Interesting development, to say the least.
if you really think Bungie are calling that shots here then i'm sorry to say you are a complete and utter idiot :)
 
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NickFire

Member
a lot of people are happy about this and i guess it could be good but i question how capable Bungie are of developing + publishing their games. this has me kind of worried for Destiny 3.

also i don't think we're getting the whole truth here. likely Activision came to their senses and realised that Destiny is a lost cause and came to an agreement to ditch it.

Honestly i think that eventually Bungie will either A) release Destiny 3, which might actually be a good game, but it won't sell anywhere near what 1 + 2 did. B) they will enter a contract with another publisher.


if you really think Bungie are calling that shots here then i'm sorry to say you are a complete and utter idiot :)
The hope, for me at least, is Bungie will start developing with an eye towards a fun game, instead of developing primarily with a focus on how to monetize the game. Might be wishful thinking.
 

Freeman76

Member
Bungie should declare their intent by dropping something for free on their fans. A map or event or something, to give the impression Acti were holding them back. I think that would do wonders for their image personally.
 

VertigoOA

Banned
Bungie should declare their intent by dropping something for free on their fans. A map or event or something, to give the impression Acti were holding them back. I think that would do wonders for their image personally.

They already do this; for crucible, for upcoming exotics, seasonal weapons, and more. Dates exist for when they drop in fact. There was already more of the sort planned for this year than any prior; without owning the annual pass.

It would be interesting to see when this takes affect. These games aren’t a one and done release. However, for all we know in a few days activision’a logo may be missing for D2 boot screens.

And destiny is bigger than halo. In both players and arguably impact. Take a look at the market today and all the coop online games that have come and gone and failed trying to be destiny. Or the nature that drives the many of the most popular games today... destiny was the first to do that on consoles successfully. As they pioneered shooters on consoles post goldeneye.

Bungie continues to be a pioneer and now they’re big enough to be a their own publisher. To spin this news as negative is retarded.
 
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Whoa.

This could mean really good things for Destiny.
Watch them just go to EA, i remember them being all excited when they left Microsoft. Company made my favorite game of all time (Halo 3) and has been on a downward spiral ever since. Greedy company thats just trying to appeal to as many people as possible.
 
Well, if Bungie just turns around and signs another control-relinquishing publication deal with EA or even Sony or MS, I'll be pretty disappointed.

But I don't this is the same as when they first left MS and needed the funding.
 

Nutsogood

Neo Member
The split should definitely be better off for Bungie, Activision Blizzard is up there with EA. But it's a bit late for me, they took way too long to try and fix each Destiny. It's a joke to call it a MMO shooter, just a flashy FPS time waster that tried to suck money from their biggest fans. Bungie should move on to something else, Destiny has a bad stigma.
 

Freeman76

Member
They already do this; for crucible, for upcoming exotics, seasonal weapons, and more. Dates exist for when they drop in fact. There was already more of the sort planned for this year than any prior; without owning the annual pass.

It would be interesting to see when this takes affect. These games aren’t a one and done release. However, for all we know in a few days activision’a logo may be missing for D2 boot screens.

And destiny is bigger than halo. In both players and arguably impact. Take a look at the market today and all the coop online games that have come and gone and failed trying to be destiny. Or the nature that drives the many of the most popular games today... destiny was the first to do that on consoles successfully. As they pioneered shooters on consoles post goldeneye.

Bungie continues to be a pioneer and now they’re big enough to be a their own publisher. To spin this news as negative is retarded.

Wtf? Think you quoted the wrong person. Either that or you totally misread the meaning of my post.
 
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The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Ah, Bungie. The company who wanted to do something other than Halo and then made a clone.

I really doubt that Activision have had any negative doing regarding Destiny. It’s just a shallow game experience
 

Pallas

Member
They already do this; for crucible, for upcoming exotics, seasonal weapons, and more. Dates exist for when they drop in fact. There was already more of the sort planned for this year than any prior; without owning the annual pass.

It would be interesting to see when this takes affect. These games aren’t a one and done release. However, for all we know in a few days activision’a logo may be missing for D2 boot screens.

And destiny is bigger than halo. In both players and arguably impact. Take a look at the market today and all the coop online games that have come and gone and failed trying to be destiny. Or the nature that drives the many of the most popular games today... destiny was the first to do that on consoles successfully. As they pioneered shooters on consoles post goldeneye.

Bungie continues to be a pioneer and now they’re big enough to be a their own publisher. To spin this news as negative is retarded.

Playerbase wise, Destiny is more than likely bigger but influence, and impact on the industry and genre defining, Halo is above Destiny. Nothing against Destiny, the first game was solid and introduced a lot of cool elements and took others and refined it, but when it comes to the FPS genre, they had a much bigger influence on it than Destiny(of course one can argue it’s because Halo was first, but would Destiny be what it is without Halo being such a success or even existing and one could arguably say Destiny wouldn’t exist either), the amount of merchandise, Esports influence, even coming out with their own primetime series on Showtime.

I like to see where Bungie goes, makes me wonder about that 100mil investment by NetEase. Will they be able to jungle D3 and that new IP or will Destiny 3 not happen.
 

Tarkus98

Member
They were really dumb to abandon Halo. I don’t think Destiny has built much value as a brand. And 343 has devalued Halo.
Well maybe not but it obviously had enough value to enable Bungie to break away early from a 10 year contract, afford the Destiny IP AND give Bungie the capacity to become their own publisher. Not a bad take away if you ask me.
 

highrider

Banned
Yeah I mean I understand the point about sales and Destiny being multi platform and being technically a bigger seller than Halo.

It’s also a different time and Xbox only, I’m really just talking Halo 1-3. It was ubiquitous in America and it spanned all age groups. It seemed like something that was just headed straight for Star Wars level of interest. And to me, just an opinion but Master Chief, The Covenant, The whole kind of mystical vibe, the music.. As I said it was fully realized out of the gate. There’s just nothing that cool in Destiny to me. Halo kind of defined console FPS. There’s no games coming out as good or offer the long term value of Bungie’s Halo games today.
 
Not really feeling the optimism in this because Bungie is already long gone. Do you guys not remember Marty O freaking Donald sued Bungie? Or that many other poor decisions like hiding and lying about the xp gains? The people who made Halo and Bungie are mostly gone from the company, but i do hope they return now they have their freedom.
 

EDMIX

Member
https://kotaku.com/bungie-splits-with-activision-1831651740

https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/47569

Personally I jumped on Destiny with The Taken King and enjoyed my time. Destiny 2 didn't appeal to me after doing some research it seemed like a step back in way.
I don't know any of their blunders were activision's fault but I hope this is good news for them.

Put about 70 hours in Destiny 1 (never got any DLC) and enjoyed what I played, but felt pretty done when it was over as in...(I know what Destiny 2 is and no thanks lol)

I hope the fans still get a Destiny 3 though. I mean, I don't like it but someone does
 

EDMIX

Member
Yeah I mean I understand the point about sales and Destiny being multi platform and being technically a bigger seller than Halo.

It’s also a different time and Xbox only, I’m really just talking Halo 1-3. It was ubiquitous in America and it spanned all age groups. It seemed like something that was just headed straight for Star Wars level of interest. And to me, just an opinion but Master Chief, The Covenant, The whole kind of mystical vibe, the music.. As I said it was fully realized out of the gate. There’s just nothing that cool in Destiny to me. Halo kind of defined console FPS. There’s no games coming out as good or offer the long term value of Bungie’s Halo games today.

". There’s no games coming out as good or offer the long term value of Bungie’s Halo games today." Well....maybe when compared to how the market looked back then, Halo of today is just no match for the other big AAA FPS IP. I sorta see what you are saying though.
 

EDMIX

Member
Not really feeling the optimism in this because Bungie is already long gone. Do you guys not remember Marty O freaking Donald sued Bungie? Or that many other poor decisions like hiding and lying about the xp gains? The people who made Halo and Bungie are mostly gone from the company, but i do hope they return now they have their freedom.

Agreed. I don't hate the team, but I Think the issues with Halo and even Destiny are pretty much solely based on Bungie themselves as a team.
 
". There’s no games coming out as good or offer the long term value of Bungie’s Halo games today." Well....maybe when compared to how the market looked back then, Halo of today is just no match for the other big AAA FPS IP. I sorta see what you are saying though.
Halo today is easily a AAA FPS IP. The problem with halo is they dont know how to keep people playing. They waste too much money/time on stupid things like Invasion, Firefight, Spartan Ops and Warzone when all casual players really want are 8v8 with really polished maps like valhalla/bloodgulch and interesting weapons/vehicles while the esports community wants great 4v4 maps with no classes/abilites. Just cant think of another FPS that offers what halo does.
 
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i know a lot of people will say its a good thing because they dont have the influence of the evil activision or whatever but at the same time they had that activision paper. i liked destiny 2 it was pretty fun but i only played the base game i got it for free off blizzard and thought about getting the dlc after hearing good things. ultimately the game just got too repetitive. like quest wise it was the same shit over and over. gameplay was super fun though
 
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