Over the last few days, developer Bungie reportedly signed a deal with Chinese internet technology company NetEase to produce an entirely new and original intellectual property. The Destiny and Halo developer stated its "long-term goal is to become an entertainment company that sustains many worlds simultaneously," and today fans are getting an idea of what this deal might mean for Bungie as a company moving forward.
In a tweet posted earlier today, Wall Street Journal tech journalist Sarah E. Needleman reported that Bungie intends to begin publishing its own games. According to the report, Bungie plans to use the $100 million invested by NetEase in the company to develop new IPs that it can publish itself and not rely on publishers like Activision-Blizzard, as it currently does for Destiny. "A big part of our focus is to self-publish in the future," Bungie CEO Pete Parsons told New York Times. "We'll decide the business model and how the worlds we create go into the market"
It doesn't come as much of a surprise that Bungie would be looking to start publishing its own games. For years Bungie has been seeking more independence and autonomy, starting when the studio decided to split off from parent company Microsoft back in 2007, leaving Microsoft with minority controlling interest and the rights to Bungie's most famous game series Halo.
Many players will be happy to know Bungie is finally going to start operating with more control in its games. Many Destiny 2 fans lay a lot of the blame for issues regarding microtransactions in the game at the feet of publisher Activision-Blizzard, who, after being unimpressed with sales figures in the first Destiny, allegedly put the pressure on Bungie to make the system more financially viable.
That being said, Bungie and Activision-Blizzards partnership seems far from over. With a Destiny 2 year 2 livestream reveal event in just a few days, Bungie shows no signs of stepping away from Destiny, and it would be foolish to do so. The franchise (the first and only to emerge from 10-year partnership signed by Bungie and Activision-Blizzard) was reported by New York Times as having delivered more than $1.6 Billion in revenue since launching back in 2014.
Hopefully, as Bungie begins to expand and develop as a company, it can continue to deliver the quality story and gameplay fans have come to expect. The fan-favorite studio has hit a rough patch recently due to the way Destiny 2 has been handled, so assuming Bungie can right the Destiny ship, anything it does after could be greeted with a lot of goodwill.
Source: Sarah E Needleman - Twitter