In what seems to be a reoccurring theme with the people over at Bungie, they’ve once again parted ways with a big name publisher to strike out on their own, and yes, they are taking their Destiny with them.
In a blog post released on Bungie.net, the developer unpacks the current state, and where they see this change taking them.
We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny. Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie. With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects.
This is not necessarily a bad move for either company, as Activision has been looking for a much better profit for their unprecedented investment in marketing and publishing the successful, yet confusing Destiny games, while Bungie was once again beholden to a publisher who wants things on a very specific schedule, something that’s caused problems with their production in the past.
What I think many people are curious to see is where the blame lies for the many problems that have plagued Destiny. Was it an uncompromising publisher demanding too much, or a developer who aimed way too high for what they could deliver? This divorce should shine some light on that, and if the game can do better without too many cooks in the kitchen. Hopefully the developer who created some of my favorite games in the past, can recapture that magic now they’re able to work on their own timelines. We shall see.

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