Bungie cuts ties with Activision, will retain the rights and continue working on Destiny

In a surprising shakeup today, Bungie announced that they will move towards self-publishing away from Activision while holding onto the Destiny IP. Despite the split, Bungie promises that they will continue to deliver on the existing roadmap for Destiny while working towards the future of the franchise.

According to their blog post, Bungie states that the transition process is already underway in its early stages, with both companies committed to make the hand-off as seamless as possible.

With Activision, we created something special. To date, Destiny has delivered a combination of over 50 million games and expansions to players all around the world. More importantly, we’ve also witnessed a remarkable community – tens of millions of Guardians strong – rise up and embrace Destiny, to play together, to make and share memories, and even to do truly great things that reach far beyond the game we share, to deliver a positive impact on people’s everyday lives.

While Bungie has only been owned by Activision since 2010, this will be the first time they will be self-publishing their titles since the Microsoft buyout in 2000 when they were working on Halo: Combat Evolved.  However, due to their initial publishing agreement with Activision, any new property developed by Bungie during this period will be owned by Bungie. At the end of their post, they remained optimistic and reassured their fans.

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. We know that new adventures await us all on new worlds filled with mystery, adventure, and hope. We hope you’ll join us there.

As mentioned before, this transition will not impact the existing roadmap Bungie has laid out for Destiny 2: Forsaken. The next stop for this content season is the new exotic quest on January 29th, The Draw. To read Bungie’s full announcement of their departure from Activision, check out their official blog.