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The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is less than two months away, running from March 25-29, 2013 in San Francisco. It is here where Bungie will have a presence to host a panel discussing design process. With the developer having parted ways with the Halo franchise to begin work on a grand sci-fi franchise for Activision that likely begins this fall, it's soon time to roll out the welcome mats for Destiny.
Many key game details about the mysterious Destiny have been unveiled through a series of leaks (from legal documents to concept art) and official teases from Bungie, but most of which surfaced online was confirmed by the developer, along with a few other key details. Soon, Bungie will officially unveil Destiny to the world.
With GDC seven weeks out, it's no doubt that Destiny will be a topic of Bungie's panel and presence at the industry event, at least in some small way. According to the latest community video from Bungie however, Activision will be showcasing something about the title even sooner, hopefully addressing the basic questions the industry has before GDC opens its doors.
The title and logo of Destiny were revealed when Bungie trademarked the brand last May. Minor details surfaced here and there until Bungie dropped the hint that the franchise would embrace a sandbox style. In November, employees from the Demonware - the online company Bungie is working with for the game's servers - got hands-on with Destiny, comparing the title to Halo with MMO elements. Keywords like "player progression" and "mobile apps" were namedropped, hinting at social and RPG features as well.
A few weeks after that, towards the end of November, the floodgates opened thanks to an ad agency who somehow let slip extremely revealing information and concept art that Bungie quickly confirmed was for Destiny. As it turns out, the game is about "Knights" protecting the last city on earth in the future from invading alien monsters with the help of a massive, mysterious alien vessel. This is the synopsis leaked at the time:
Our story begins seven hundred years from now in the Last City on Earth, in a Solar System littered with the ruins of man's Golden Age. A massive, mysterious alien ship hangs overhead like a second Moon. No one knows where it came from or what it’s here for, but only that it's our protector. Meanwhile, strange, alien monsters creep in from the edge of the universe, determined to take Earth and the Last City. We are young 'knights' tasked with defending the remains of humanity, discovering the source of these monsters and — eventually — overcoming it.
Keeping that in mind, think on the words of DeeJ in Act Two of Bungie's Community Theatre:
"For years we've been working under the cover of darkness on an entirely new universe. And you'll get to explore it very soon. We're not ready to lift that curtain just yet... Within a matter of weeks, we'll be unveiling what we've been creating for you. In the meantime, keep your eyes trained on www.bungie.net so you don't miss a thing."
Excited yet?
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With all signs pointing towards the first installment in the sure-to-be-around-for-a-long-time Destiny series coming this fall for the Xbox 360 and its successor, could the hold out on a proper unveiling be a key indicator on whether or not the next-gen consoles will arrive this fall? And with reports that Sony struck a deal to get PlayStation versions of the first two installments in a more timely fashion, is it at all possible that Bungie could take part in the big New York PlayStation event on the 20th where the PS4 is expected to be unveiled?
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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.