Bungie’s first game in its multiple game deal with Activision has been confirmed for a 2013 launch.
The confirmation has followed the unsealing of the full 2010 contract between Bungie (developer) and Activision (publisher) as part of the upcoming trial between Activision and ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampell.
The 27-page contract – obtained by the the LA Times – details a four-game series developed over ten years from when the contact was made in 2010.
The first game in the series (an Xbox 360 exclusive and codenamed ‘Destiny’) was planned for release in 2013, with sequels scheduled for release every second year after – 2015, 2017 and 2019. The sequels would then be released on both PS3 and PC as well. What’s interesting is that the second Destiny game is due to be released on Xbox 360, the next Xbox, the next PlayStation and PC. Based on the timeline mentioned before it can be assumed that the next generation will certainly make its appearance between 2013 and 2015. And you can all quote me on that…
The contract also outlines a deal for downloadable content of four expansion packs to supplement Destiny which are codenamed Comet. The plan with the DLC expansions would be that one would be released every year a game wasn’t – 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. Extrapolation of this would mean a major release would occur every year for eight years.
Under the contract, Bungie will maintain ownership of the Destiny intellectual property – unusual among publishing agreements.
The contract also notes that Bungie is to work on a prototype for a new Marathon title, but no more than 5% of the studio’s staff are permitted to work on the project.
The contract also outs a bonus of $2.5 million to be paid to the developer if Destiny achieves a 90 average critical rating. While bonuses of this kind are not uncommon, Develop claims it is likely the largest critical bonus pay out to be made public.
“While we’re not ready to show you what we’ve been working on, we can reconfirm that we are hard at work on our new universe. We can’t wait for you to see it,” said Bungie’s DeeJ on the developer’s website.
It then teased: “See you starside in 2013.”
It should be noted that the contract was written under projection in 2010. Though the contract lists a fall 2013 release for the first Destiny title on Microsoft’s next Xbox, it is difficult to take the contract as confirmation for when the next Xbox console will be available.
