Activision will cut ties with Bungie, give up publishing control of Destiny

Enlarge (credit: Aurich / Bungie)

The publishing deal that brought Halo's creators together with the publisher of Call of Duty has ended-two full years before it was originally slated to end.

Seattle-area game developer Bungie will soon become the sole publisher and handler of the Destiny online-shooter series that it developed in partnership with publisher Activision. Bungie announced the news on Thursday via a blog post titled "Our destiny," in which the studio declared that plans were already in motion "for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny." The post begins with a specific framing: that during the game's plotting phase in 2010, in order "to launch a game of that magnitude, we needed the support of an established publishing partner."

Bungie's post thus implies-but doesn't outright state-that the developer no longer needs said support. More crucially, it does not make clear what exactly will unfold as a result of the 10-year deal signed in 2010 by the developer and publisher-meaning, whether either party owes the other anything for an early termination.

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