Not even two weeks into the new year, and the video game industry has already been rocked by a shocking announcement in 2019. Bungie and Activision are splitting up, with Bungie retaining control over its sci-fi shooter franchise Destiny. Many wonder what this split will mean for Bungie's future and the future of Destiny, with research firm Cowen & Company putting forth the opinion that it will see Bungie launch Destiny 3 at some point in 2020.

Cowen & Company's prediction that Destiny 3 will launch in 2020 after the Bungie/Activision split actually makes a great deal of sense. Now that Bungie is in full control of Destiny, it has a chance for a second first impression by releasing a new game that is perhaps better in line with its own vision for the franchise. Secondly, Bungie has established a pattern with its Destiny releases that suggests 2020 was likely already planned to be Destiny 3's release year.

The first Destiny game launched in 2014, and saw a major expansion in 2015 called The Taken King, followed by Rise of Iron in 2016. Destiny 2 then released in 2017, and was supplemented by its own major expansion in 2018 called Forsaken. Following this pattern, one has to imagine that Bungie has another major expansion in the works for Destiny 2 in 2019, and will then be eyeing 2020 for Destiny 3.

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Plus, we've already heard some rumblings about Destiny 3. A few months ago, respected Reddit insider AnonTheNine revealed that Bungie has already started work on Destiny 3, with Chris Barrett at the helm as director. AnonTheNine also claimed that Destiny 3 will be more hardcore than Destiny 2, with even more RPG elements than previous games.

AnonTheNine's Destiny 3 reveals also point to Guardians being able to use the Darkness to their advantage, as well as fight other players PvPvE style in open world areas to gain control of territories. None of this information has been verified of course, but it will be interesting to see if any of the Destiny 3 "leaks" prove to be accurate once the game is eventually announced.

Destiny 3 is rumored to be in development for unspecified platforms.

Source: GameSpot