Court Documents Reveal New Details of Bungie's Next Series for Activision

[DoctorFinger]

The courtroom battle between Activision and former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella has once again generated some news that has almost nothing to do with Call of Duty. This time the treasure trove is about Bungie's first post-Microsoft, post-Halo project for Activision, currently codenamed Destiny.

These revelations are courtesy of the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-bungie-activision-contract-20120521,0,3463781.story), and they start to fill in some of the picture on Destiny, which is referred to as a "sci-fantasy action shooter." The contract states that Bungie will make four full games in the Destiny series in alternating years starting in the fall of 2013. Even numbered years will see the release of expansion packs for the previously released games. The first Destiny will be exclusive to Microsoft, apparently on both the current 360 and it's successor, while the 2015 and later installments will spread to Sony consoles and the PC.

Based on previous reports we knew Destiny would be a space based action title with a huge multiplayer component. Some reports called it "WoW in Space", others said it had a multiplayer side as big as WoW, but it wasn't an MMO in the traditional sense.

The contract also allows Bungie to allocate up to 5% of their workforce towards a revival of Marathon, one of the company's early hits - along with Myth - for the Mac in the 1990s. That likely means they see it as a smaller downloadable title rather than a full retail release.

E3 is just around the corner, and there's a strong chance that something on Destiny will be revealed at the show in June.

Source - LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-bungie-activision-contract-20120521,0,3463781.story)

[Addendum] - Internet sleuth Superannuation notes (https://twitter.com/#!/supererogatory) that Bungie is getting $50M plus royalties plus performance bonuses for developing just the first installment of Destiny. And they own the Destiny IP rights. That's... almost unheard of in this industry. Activision can opt out after D2 or if D1 sells fewer than 5M copies in 6 months. It also says that Microsoft had right of first refusal on the deal, and didn't take it. With that contract I sort of understand why.

[DoctorFinger]

Superannuation notes (https://twitter.com/#%21/supererogatory) that Bungie is getting $50M plus royalties plus performance bonuses for developing just the first installment of Destiny. And they own the Destiny IP rights. That's... almost unheard of in this industry. Activision can opt out after D2 or if D1 sells fewer than 5M copies in 6 months. It also says that Microsoft had right of first refusal on the deal, and didn't take it. With that contract I sort of understand why.

[fitbabits]

Fuck. Me. Gently!

[Karmakin]

Wow. That's a hell of a deal.

I'm predicting a bomb.

[bean]

I'm predicting a bomb.
It's a sci-fantasy action-shooter from the makers of Halo that will probably will sell at least 5 million at launch based on reputation alone (and thus return $200 million to the publisher. . . though of course, they'll be out $50 million in development and probably $20-30 million in marketing at that point.)

It's a fair deal for a company that is very likely to release another AAA hit.

[PathMaster]

Interesting that the initial release is exclusive, but later ones will not be. I am personally not a fan of playing the second game in a series without having played the first.

[Reverant]

A yearly release, alternating between a full title and an expansion? Seems like a pretty hectic schedule.

[Karak]

Interesting that the initial release is exclusive, but later ones will not be. I am personally not a fan of playing the second game in a series without having played the first.

Ya I thought that was interesting as well. But it speaks to something going on for sure between them and MS, or a legacy agreement perhaps? Who knows.

[Widgetcraft]

I'm sure they'll get those royalties too, it's not as if Activision has a history of screwing people out of royalties.

[Spigot]

Damn it. I read part of the OP as saying that they will allocate resources to a new Myth game. That's the only part of this that interests me and I'm probably wrong about it.

[KamaItachi]

The first Destiny will be exclusive to Microsoft, apparently on both the current 360 and it's successor, while the 2015 and later installments will spread to Sony consoles and the PC.


Interesting. So will we see 2 separate versions ala the start of this current gen or one version to carry across both systems with added features for the new machine?

[OldJadedGamer]

Interesting that the initial release is exclusive, but later ones will not be. I am personally not a fan of playing the second game in a series without having played the first.

So get the system the initial game is for if you are interested in playing it?

[Squidbot]

Blah, blah, blah, stuff, stuff, blah MARATHON.
Say what?

[DoctorFinger]

I have a feeling that the MS exclusivity on the first game is probably a condition of their release from Microsoft control. It's really the only reason for it.
Interesting. So will we see 2 separate versions ala the start of this current gen or one version to carry across both systems with added features for the new machine?
I assume the latter; the same basic game across both platforms but with lots of added bells and whistles on the 720 version.

[PathMaster]

So get the system the initial game is for if you are interested in playing it?

So for some the cost of entry goes up?

Not really a bad thing for me, as I own a 360, but if I did not, it might annoy me.

[shodan2020]

Wow, Destiny sounds really interesting. I wonder if they'll fit a little bit of Durandal in there. :)

[bean]

I played the Marathon remake and have decided all the fanboyism was about the fact that it was the only show in town on the Mac. It felt like playing Doom but with shitty level design to me. Your mileage may vary.

[National Kato]

Blah, blah, blah, stuff, stuff, blah MARATHON.
Say what?

Blah, blah, blah, stuff, stuff, blah, marathon, blah, stuff, blah MYTH.

Now we're talking! ;)

[Karak]

Blah, blah, blah, stuff, stuff, blah, marathon, blah, stuff, blah MYTH.

Now we're talking! ;)

Myth myth myth myth myth marathon myth myth

Is how I read it. No comma's just stream of consciousness.

[Squidbot]

I didn't think Bungie held the rights to Myth anymore though?

[OldJadedGamer]

So for some the cost of entry goes up?

Not really a bad thing for me, as I own a 360, but if I did not, it might annoy me.

The only way to ensure that you can play every single game is to own every single system.

[J Arcane]

As I understand it, Take-Two or whatever has the rights to Myth, which is how that atrocity of a Myth III happened.

[Spigot]

As I understand it, Take-Two or whatever has the rights to Myth, which is how that atrocity of a Myth III happened.Ug. Don't remind us.

It would still be lovely if they could get back to Myth, even if they call it something else (like Destiny? :) ). Just give me something on par with Soulblighter!!!

I haven't been a big fan of Halo but you can see bits and pieces of the storytelling from Myth peeking through when you read the lore of the universe.

[PathMaster]

The only way to ensure that you can play every single game is to own every single system.

Throw me a few 'C' notes and I will happily oblige.

[MosBen]

bean, honestly, I think very few games, Doom included, are as good as nostalgia leads people to believe. I also played the Marathon release on XBLA, and I didn't make it more than five minutes. It's just simplistic and ugly. Then again, I don't think Doom is much better. Yes, we can talk about their strengths relative to their peers, but a lot of the love for these older games is just about fond memories of youth.

That said, a Marathon remake would without a doubt be a modern take on the series and the genre, so while I think some of the nostalgia is overblown I'm sure a remake will be basically what we expect from a modern Bungie release. And I'm also sure that in 20 years it'll look like an archaic game with some nostalgia attached.

[muddi900]

I played like Doom shareware last year. It holds up quite well. It was surprising to see no cut-scene taking place halfway through the level. Also, levels were more than 5 corridors.

[Karak]

I didn't think Bungie held the rights to Myth anymore though?

I wish I could avatar quote...because seriously Dread. Thanks for that bad reminder:(

[bean]

I think very few games, Doom included, are as good as nostalgia leads people to believe. I also played the Marathon release on XBLA, and I didn't make it more than five minutes. It's just simplistic and ugly.
Absolutely. I agree with you that old games simply don't hold up. There are games I replay now that I literally spent tens of hours playing as a kid that I just can't stand. They are absolutely terrible with ridiculously bad UIs, terrible graphics, and often gameplay mechanics we would consider show-stopping design flaws today. I also agree with your extension of this point that the people who loved Marathon shouldn't have to support it's worth to them based on current comparisons any more than I should have to support the worth o Fallout or X-Com vs. modern games.

That said, a Marathon remake would without a doubt be a modern take on the series and the genre, so while I think some of the nostalgia is overblown I'm sure a remake will be basically what we expect from a modern Bungie release.
That depends. Nostalgia fanatics like seeing old game mechanics (even bad ones) revived with slightly less horrifying graphics. With only 5% of their team working on the project, that isn't enough to do a AAA re-imagining. It's much more likely to be a nostalgic sprite-based FPS with better graphics and level design aimed at an XBLA release.

That's cool with me. There are guys who would like that. I'm just not one of them.