Bungie’s history as a company is particularly unique among game development studios. To go from a fast-growing independent studio to one of the largest first-party teams in the world, then mostly regaining its independence, to now withBungieentirely in control of its destiny. Yet as Bungie’s future looks brighter than ever, a new interview with ex-Bungie composer Marty O’Donnell reveals just how close the studio was to falling back into exclusivity and losing its IP following its departure from Microsoft.
Speaking as part of the now-ended GamesBeat Summit 2021 online event, O’Donnell discussed Bungie’s pre-Destinylaunch options during a panel titled “The Nuts and Bolts of Launching a Completely New Intellectual Property.” During the discussion, O’Donnell explained that prior toBungie making a deal with Activision, it received offers from both PlayStation and Xbox. In other words, Bungie was close to makingDestinyeither a PlayStation or Xbox-exclusive franchise back around 2007.
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O’Donnell described how, “[Bungie] almost stayed with Microsoft,” and, “almost went to Sony,” too. Both companies apparently made an effort to sign the newly-independent Bungie to a contract for its upcoming work, which would have madeDestinyconsole-exclusive. The issue, however, was that bothMicrosoft and Sony wanted to own Bungie’s IPas part of the contract. Bungie ultimately decided to partner with Activision instead, because Activision’s offer would allow Bungie to own theDestinyIP entirely. O’Donnell explained that this part of the contract was “non-negotiable.”
WithDestinynow in the rearview mirror, this decision has proven to perhaps be Bungie’s most important as a company. Thesuccess of the Activision partnership is undeniable, yet somewhat tumultuous. However, years later, Bungie is now able to publishDestiny 2and all of its future games by itself because of that decision to partner with Activision.
It’s worth, at the very least, asking whether a Microsoft or Sony-ledDestinywould have potentially have been better in the long run for consumers. The issues with Activision’s publishing are well-known.DestinyandDestiny 2both had challenging launches, while expansions andmicrotransactions were pushed in ways Bungie seemed to disagree with. In trade for the IP, Bungie could have perhaps guided the direction of theDestinyfranchise with more of its own intent and created a more polished experience.
Regardless,Bungie does control the direction ofDestinynow.Destiny 2as it stands is in line with Bungie’s vision for the project. It’s also already moving toward the release of a new IP, though it’s years away. Regardless of what could have been and how the path here has been challenging,Bungie’s future has never been more exciting.
Destiny 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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