This is, at least on its face, the best god damned news that I could imagine related to Destiny in a long time.
I don't know that this will have a major impact on Destiny 2, though one can hope; but it seems like it should certainly have a major factor in what Destiny 3 ultimately looks like.
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
it implies the numbers were good enough to keep the studio open but not good enough for actiblizzard to want to keep their publishing deal
Activision can't close bungie, they don't own them
Bungie could run out of money all on its own.
Yeah but they've already got their next $texas for a new franchise, so it wasn't really possible for a bad forsaken or annual pass reception to kill them
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
hm
hmmmmm
Didn't think about the NetEase implication
I'm wary again, now
NetEase has no participation in Destiny, they bought a new franchise
Like on the whole, Fuck Activision is probably outweighing other apprehension, but the extended machine (yeah not sure about Vicarious Visions), localization/QA/marketing and other infrastructure support is going out the window.
Publishers bring some strengths to the table that would be lost.
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
I'm actually betting Destiny 3 and the NetEase release are one and the same. The major difference between the two would be, the Chinese market is all about free-to-play games so they'd have to monetize in another way.
Also curious which company signed the co-marketing deal with Sony. Is that going by the wayside now?
those deals would have most likely been signed by Activision and Bungie may have to agree to honour any current deals depending on how fast the split is worked out. as for going forward, i wouldn't be so sure that we've seen the end of that kind of thing. if Bungie feel they need to extra funds then of course they'll be open to offers on that sort of thing.
it implies the numbers were good enough to keep the studio open but not good enough for actiblizzard to want to keep their publishing deal
Activision can't close bungie, they don't own them
Bungie could run out of money all on its own.
Yeah but they've already got their next $texas for a new franchise, so it wasn't really possible for a bad forsaken or annual pass reception to kill them
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
hm
hmmmmm
Didn't think about the NetEase implication
I'm wary again, now
NetEase has no participation in Destiny, they bought a new franchise
Yeah, but if they have enough pull to force more resource to this new franchise over Destiny, then we are back to square one or even worse.
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
With the information that has been coming out on how Activision has dramatically changed the atmosphere and functioning of Blizzard over the years, I have no doubt they had as much, if not likely more, impact on Bungie.
If Bungie had the capital to basically buy themselves and their franchise back from Activision, and have it not be hostile, I would suspect they also have the finances needed to keep themselves going fine.
We don't, and might not ever (barring some disgruntled employees and leaks as has happened with Blizzard slowly over time) know the full extent of what things in Destiny 1/2 were orders from on high from Activision and how much were Bungie making stupid choices.
But you don't acquire a major franchise (claims of disappointing numbers from a company like Activision shouldn't be any indication that something is failing; they don't know the difference between a success and something just not giving them all the money) and go, at least on paper, fully independent, without a plan. A move this major isn't reactionary, it's planned.
However it's not like Bungie is incapable of making poor decisions on their own. If I had to guess, something like the Annual Pass was pushed on them by Activision, but they're still the ones making the content. To be fair, said content would have necessarily been forced to be able to meet strict deadlines and require a certain amount of reliable additional microtransaction income by Activision, so were the Annual Pass never required, Bungie still might have come out with Black Armory; but it might have looked very different, and could have been released in a very different manner.
It's a lot of speculation, but in situations with a corporation as notoriously shitty as Activision, and a developer, who are by no means flawless, but is still a company of actual human beings; I'll give the latter the benefit of the doubt for enough time that they can either show that they never wanted the shit, or show that it was them all along. Time will tell.
it implies the numbers were good enough to keep the studio open but not good enough for actiblizzard to want to keep their publishing deal
Activision can't close bungie, they don't own them
Bungie could run out of money all on its own.
Yeah but they've already got their next $texas for a new franchise, so it wasn't really possible for a bad forsaken or annual pass reception to kill them
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
hm
hmmmmm
Didn't think about the NetEase implication
I'm wary again, now
NetEase has no participation in Destiny, they bought a new franchise
Yeah, but if they have enough pull to force more resource to this new franchise over Destiny, then we are back to square one or even worse.
That is absolutely going to happen.
The question is whether NetEase has some backend where success for like D3 also pays out to NetEase so that there is a reason to actually make a compelling D3, rather than basically abandon ship.
Besides of course the actual passion for Destiny and the community, wherein backlash would mean negative feelings towards the next project.
God I could talk about this all day instead of being productive at work, shiiiit.
I went back and read the NetEase investment announcement and it's a bit murky on what it means. They say the investment will help support "multiple teams within Bungie" and that Destiny isn't going anywhere.
I dunno if they said anyone explicitly that it's for a new IP but they did it was to help them "explore new world's"
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I went back and read the NetEase investment announcement and it's a bit murky on what it means. They say the investment will help support "multiple teams within Bungie" and that Destiny isn't going anywhere.
I dunno if they said anyone explicitly that it's for a new IP but they did it was to help them "explore new world's"
You're right it's very vague, but there's a couple of things that make it most likely that it's a new franchise. There's the line you mention, and there's another line that says it will help grow bungie to a 'global multi-franchise entertainment studio'.
not sure i'd read to much into the initial reaction as far as stocks go. yes Activision have lost a major IP but it also means that they wont be investing more money into a franchise that by their own admission wasn't performing to their expectations. that's money that is now free to be invested elsewhere and i imagine its just that thinking that lead them to agreeing to part ways with Bungie at this point.
not sure i'd read to much into the initial reaction as far as stocks go. yes Activision have lost a major IP but it also means that they wont be investing more money into a franchise that by their own admission wasn't performing to their expectations. that's money that is now free to be invested elsewhere and i imagine its just that thinking that lead them to agreeing to part ways with Bungie at this point.
Monkey Paw time
Division breaks free of Activision
CDProjektRed has been bought out by Activision
not sure i'd read to much into the initial reaction as far as stocks go. yes Activision have lost a major IP but it also means that they wont be investing more money into a franchise that by their own admission wasn't performing to their expectations. that's money that is now free to be invested elsewhere and i imagine its just that thinking that lead them to agreeing to part ways with Bungie at this point.
Monkey Paw time
Division breaks free of Activision
CDProjektRed has been bought out by Activision
NO YOU MONSTER
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awsimoa perfectly cromulent human; definitely not a robotRegistered Userregular
not sure i'd read to much into the initial reaction as far as stocks go. yes Activision have lost a major IP but it also means that they wont be investing more money into a franchise that by their own admission wasn't performing to their expectations. that's money that is now free to be invested elsewhere and i imagine its just that thinking that lead them to agreeing to part ways with Bungie at this point.
Monkey Paw time
Division breaks free of Activision
CDProjektRed has been bought out by Activision
Like on the whole, Fuck Activision is probably outweighing other apprehension, but the extended machine (yeah not sure about Vicarious Visions), localization/QA/marketing and other infrastructure support is going out the window.
Publishers bring some strengths to the table that would be lost.
But yeah fuck Activision.
Independent developers work together all the time; a developer as prestigious as Bungie will have no problems making deals with other houses, if they need to, for any outsourcing, support, or contract work.
Plus, who they work with isn't dictated to them, which would give Bungie a lot more control over the work handed to them, and likely more oversight throughout development of anything someone else does for them.
Again, pure speculation, but look at something like Crucible management. We know that much of how the matchmaking system works, and support for it, are handled externally. I mean, that's my understanding anyway. If it was that way because contracts with Activision required them to hand it over to someone else that Activision dictated, they could now return matchmaking in-house and instead of "we're passing along feedback" being the only response they ever give, they could directly address issues both to the community and at their own pace internally. It would make sense, too; Activision is a massive publisher, they've got people they can have handle stuff like matchmaking while they require the developer to work on specific content. Fixing matchmaking, to a corporation like Activision that is more concerned about immediate profits, than they are an ongoing relationship with a community of fans and customers, would be so far down the list of priorities it isn't even funny. To an independent company where their relationship with their customers and fans is everything? They're going to shift manpower around to prioritize player experience because they (hopefully) understand that is what will keep them going in the long term.
Nintendo is an example of a corporation that is more focused on ensuring their customers have a positive experience, even if it means continued development and support of something they don't even have DLC for, or even if they do, their continued support provides large amounts of content for people who don't buy the DLC (see, Mario Odyssey for the former, Splatoon 2 for the latter; among other notable examples). My ideal would be that Bungie turn into something similar (obviously Bungie isn't even in the same ballpark of size and scope as Nintendo; I'm just using an example of a major company who sees that the bottom line doesn't just come from the immediate quarters results); in that it's unlikely we're going to just get loads of free content, there will still be DLC's and unless they've got something pretty major up their sleeves, still are bound by what they've sold with the Annual Pass (though, I imagine, few would balk at them offering an alternative even if it means a different direction; I know I certainly would). But they could work on ensuring that major parts of their game that have been sore points for ages (comp...) actually get addressed because they're not bound by god knows what restrictions and requirements.
I have to think that if they did this, they had a plan, and they have to know how important the near future is going to be for their fans and customers to assure them that the course will be corrected and ideally bring back people who left due to shit that, possibly anyway, were put on them by Activision.
I can understand the "fuck Activision" line, especially if they caused development problems that harmed the game. But I can't really fault Activision for cutting them loose. Destiny 2 seemed to be performing weakly -- the game was given away for free numerous times, most recently through Battle.net in November. Given the timing, I'm guessing the Battle.net promotion didn't really juice things enough for Activision.
This may be a good thing for Bungie. Or maybe Bungie will find new ways to screw up. Regardless, we'll soon find out how much Activision influenced things over there.
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
Again, pure speculation, but look at something like Crucible management. We know that much of how the matchmaking system works, and support for it, are handled externally. I mean, that's my understanding anyway. If it was that way because contracts with Activision required them to hand it over to someone else that Activision dictated, they could now return matchmaking in-house and instead of "we're passing along feedback" being the only response they ever give, they could directly address issues both to the community and at their own pace internally.
Also just speculating but I would be shocked if Activision had any say over matchmaking algorithms
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
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You might know me as D'Brickashaw on Steam.
Again, pure speculation, but look at something like Crucible management. We know that much of how the matchmaking system works, and support for it, are handled externally. I mean, that's my understanding anyway. If it was that way because contracts with Activision required them to hand it over to someone else that Activision dictated, they could now return matchmaking in-house and instead of "we're passing along feedback" being the only response they ever give, they could directly address issues both to the community and at their own pace internally.
Also just speculating but I would be shocked if Activision had any say over matchmaking algorithms
I doubt they care how matchmaking works specifically, but it isn't hard to imagine them (either for streamlining costs or to make sure specific developers are developing specific things) having people who do matchmaking/networking for many of their brands.
Just organizationally, it would make sense for Activision to have a set of teams to do network related things for numerous developers under them, than to spend the money to have every single developer handle their own networking and matchmaking; particularly when both are things that are so common across the board.
Anyway, as others have said, I am not expecting anything major to change in the near future. Like I said earlier, I don't expect much of what happens for the duration of Destiny 2 to change dramatically (though, possibly, we could see a RoI style DLC when previously we might not have had one?), but whatever they end up announcing for Destiny 3 and anything else they announce, will give a much clearer picture of how much control they had vs Activision.
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
Yeah, I'm half expecting the 2030 announcement of Bungie employees breaking out in cheers as they separate from EA.
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
Yeah, I'm half expecting the 2030 announcement of Bungie employees breaking out in cheers as they separate from EA.
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
Yeah, I'm half expecting the 2030 announcement of Bungie employees breaking out in cheers as they separate from EA.
at this point it looks more like they're being backed by NetEase now, though
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
The company structure, and the industry in general, were very different stories then.
Still, it could very well be that they're making a mistake, or could end up in a worse situation.
I guess, totally selfishly, I'd prefer they fail on their own, than slowly die under the thumb of Activision.
It could be that all the fuckups in D2 (not that Destiny didn't have them, but they improved it so much by the end, that they get a lot of leeway from me on that alone) had zero to do with Activision. But at least this way we will know. It won't be "sucks about Bungie closing, Activision sure did fuck them up" leaving Bungie as martyrs; but "welp, Bungie sure did fuck this up, not surprised they failed". The latter feels more honest to me.
And we don't have to speculate as to whether or not Activision are greedy vampires who fuck up everything for a dime. Even if going fully independent is dangerous uncharted territory, they're free to show their true colors.
As far as the leaked contract when they partnered with Activision goes; keep in mind Blizzard was functionally fully independent of Activision during that trade/merger. But over time we've seen that independence erode, to now where they seem to have fully budgetary control and huge influence on development decisions (I'm saying this from news stories that have been increasing over the past couple years, with insiders relating this, and ex employees confirming). So how much control their contract may have stipulated certainly wouldn't have held Activision back; even a single missed milestone would have allowed Activision a foot in the door to dictate how Bungie functioned.
I mean, if employees really broke out in cheers at the announcement, it kinda says a whole lot about how they felt about the partnership and, at least in my mind gives a clue to how much say they had in things.
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
Yeah, I'm half expecting the 2030 announcement of Bungie employees breaking out in cheers as they separate from EA.
at this point it looks more like they're being backed by NetEase now, though
They could very well have other deals, but right now we only know of a single 100m investment, which relative to the scope of the Destiny IP, is a tiny amount of money. The first Destiny had 25m players by the end of 2015; not even including dlc's and microtransactions, it's a billion+ dollar franchise.
I don't think there's a lot of reason to think that NetEase is going to be their sugar daddy.
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Square dropped IO Interactive after they made an incredible game and it was probably the best thing that could happen to them.
The other thing to consider: no more exclusive platform content bullshit.
I don't know that this will have a major impact on Destiny 2, though one can hope; but it seems like it should certainly have a major factor in what Destiny 3 ultimately looks like.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS
I agree with Fuck Activision (so very very very very very much), but I am also very concerned about Destiny now. Particularly in light of the NetEase investment, and folks already transitioning to their next project.
Seems like this could be good (bye bye to enforced timelines) but bad (A team goes to NetEase project, skeleton crew finishes a weaksauce D3 to tide over until NetEase project is complete).
hm
hmmmmm
Didn't think about the NetEase implication
I'm wary again, now
Yeah but they've already got their next $texas for a new franchise, so it wasn't really possible for a bad forsaken or annual pass reception to kill them
NetEase has no participation in Destiny, they bought a new franchise
https://medium.com/@alascii
*in regards to PC release only, obviously.
Publishers bring some strengths to the table that would be lost.
But yeah fuck Activision.
I'm actually betting Destiny 3 and the NetEase release are one and the same. The major difference between the two would be, the Chinese market is all about free-to-play games so they'd have to monetize in another way.
those deals would have most likely been signed by Activision and Bungie may have to agree to honour any current deals depending on how fast the split is worked out. as for going forward, i wouldn't be so sure that we've seen the end of that kind of thing. if Bungie feel they need to extra funds then of course they'll be open to offers on that sort of thing.
that's cool
Yeah, but if they have enough pull to force more resource to this new franchise over Destiny, then we are back to square one or even worse.
With the information that has been coming out on how Activision has dramatically changed the atmosphere and functioning of Blizzard over the years, I have no doubt they had as much, if not likely more, impact on Bungie.
If Bungie had the capital to basically buy themselves and their franchise back from Activision, and have it not be hostile, I would suspect they also have the finances needed to keep themselves going fine.
We don't, and might not ever (barring some disgruntled employees and leaks as has happened with Blizzard slowly over time) know the full extent of what things in Destiny 1/2 were orders from on high from Activision and how much were Bungie making stupid choices.
But you don't acquire a major franchise (claims of disappointing numbers from a company like Activision shouldn't be any indication that something is failing; they don't know the difference between a success and something just not giving them all the money) and go, at least on paper, fully independent, without a plan. A move this major isn't reactionary, it's planned.
However it's not like Bungie is incapable of making poor decisions on their own. If I had to guess, something like the Annual Pass was pushed on them by Activision, but they're still the ones making the content. To be fair, said content would have necessarily been forced to be able to meet strict deadlines and require a certain amount of reliable additional microtransaction income by Activision, so were the Annual Pass never required, Bungie still might have come out with Black Armory; but it might have looked very different, and could have been released in a very different manner.
It's a lot of speculation, but in situations with a corporation as notoriously shitty as Activision, and a developer, who are by no means flawless, but is still a company of actual human beings; I'll give the latter the benefit of the doubt for enough time that they can either show that they never wanted the shit, or show that it was them all along. Time will tell.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
That is absolutely going to happen.
The question is whether NetEase has some backend where success for like D3 also pays out to NetEase so that there is a reason to actually make a compelling D3, rather than basically abandon ship.
Besides of course the actual passion for Destiny and the community, wherein backlash would mean negative feelings towards the next project.
God I could talk about this all day instead of being productive at work, shiiiit.
I dunno if they said anyone explicitly that it's for a new IP but they did it was to help them "explore new world's"
If you’re not keeping track at home (I wasn’t) that is a six percent drop.
Good. Activision has been trending downwards for months and I hope it continues forever.
You're right it's very vague, but there's a couple of things that make it most likely that it's a new franchise. There's the line you mention, and there's another line that says it will help grow bungie to a 'global multi-franchise entertainment studio'.
https://medium.com/@alascii
Division breaks free of Activision
CDProjektRed has been bought out by Activision
NO YOU MONSTER
DON'T YOU EVEN JOKE
Independent developers work together all the time; a developer as prestigious as Bungie will have no problems making deals with other houses, if they need to, for any outsourcing, support, or contract work.
Plus, who they work with isn't dictated to them, which would give Bungie a lot more control over the work handed to them, and likely more oversight throughout development of anything someone else does for them.
Again, pure speculation, but look at something like Crucible management. We know that much of how the matchmaking system works, and support for it, are handled externally. I mean, that's my understanding anyway. If it was that way because contracts with Activision required them to hand it over to someone else that Activision dictated, they could now return matchmaking in-house and instead of "we're passing along feedback" being the only response they ever give, they could directly address issues both to the community and at their own pace internally. It would make sense, too; Activision is a massive publisher, they've got people they can have handle stuff like matchmaking while they require the developer to work on specific content. Fixing matchmaking, to a corporation like Activision that is more concerned about immediate profits, than they are an ongoing relationship with a community of fans and customers, would be so far down the list of priorities it isn't even funny. To an independent company where their relationship with their customers and fans is everything? They're going to shift manpower around to prioritize player experience because they (hopefully) understand that is what will keep them going in the long term.
Nintendo is an example of a corporation that is more focused on ensuring their customers have a positive experience, even if it means continued development and support of something they don't even have DLC for, or even if they do, their continued support provides large amounts of content for people who don't buy the DLC (see, Mario Odyssey for the former, Splatoon 2 for the latter; among other notable examples). My ideal would be that Bungie turn into something similar (obviously Bungie isn't even in the same ballpark of size and scope as Nintendo; I'm just using an example of a major company who sees that the bottom line doesn't just come from the immediate quarters results); in that it's unlikely we're going to just get loads of free content, there will still be DLC's and unless they've got something pretty major up their sleeves, still are bound by what they've sold with the Annual Pass (though, I imagine, few would balk at them offering an alternative even if it means a different direction; I know I certainly would). But they could work on ensuring that major parts of their game that have been sore points for ages (comp...) actually get addressed because they're not bound by god knows what restrictions and requirements.
I have to think that if they did this, they had a plan, and they have to know how important the near future is going to be for their fans and customers to assure them that the course will be corrected and ideally bring back people who left due to shit that, possibly anyway, were put on them by Activision.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
This may be a good thing for Bungie. Or maybe Bungie will find new ways to screw up. Regardless, we'll soon find out how much Activision influenced things over there.
Interesting fact: this move comes when the original 10-year contract had just over a year to go.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Also just speculating but I would be shocked if Activision had any say over matchmaking algorithms
https://medium.com/@alascii
They broke out in cheers when they separated from Microsoft, too, and then immediately realized that they'd bitten off a bit more than they can chew...
You might know me as D'Brickashaw on Steam.
I doubt they care how matchmaking works specifically, but it isn't hard to imagine them (either for streamlining costs or to make sure specific developers are developing specific things) having people who do matchmaking/networking for many of their brands.
Just organizationally, it would make sense for Activision to have a set of teams to do network related things for numerous developers under them, than to spend the money to have every single developer handle their own networking and matchmaking; particularly when both are things that are so common across the board.
Anyway, as others have said, I am not expecting anything major to change in the near future. Like I said earlier, I don't expect much of what happens for the duration of Destiny 2 to change dramatically (though, possibly, we could see a RoI style DLC when previously we might not have had one?), but whatever they end up announcing for Destiny 3 and anything else they announce, will give a much clearer picture of how much control they had vs Activision.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Yeah, I'm half expecting the 2030 announcement of Bungie employees breaking out in cheers as they separate from EA.
:snap:
at this point it looks more like they're being backed by NetEase now, though
The company structure, and the industry in general, were very different stories then.
Still, it could very well be that they're making a mistake, or could end up in a worse situation.
I guess, totally selfishly, I'd prefer they fail on their own, than slowly die under the thumb of Activision.
It could be that all the fuckups in D2 (not that Destiny didn't have them, but they improved it so much by the end, that they get a lot of leeway from me on that alone) had zero to do with Activision. But at least this way we will know. It won't be "sucks about Bungie closing, Activision sure did fuck them up" leaving Bungie as martyrs; but "welp, Bungie sure did fuck this up, not surprised they failed". The latter feels more honest to me.
And we don't have to speculate as to whether or not Activision are greedy vampires who fuck up everything for a dime. Even if going fully independent is dangerous uncharted territory, they're free to show their true colors.
As far as the leaked contract when they partnered with Activision goes; keep in mind Blizzard was functionally fully independent of Activision during that trade/merger. But over time we've seen that independence erode, to now where they seem to have fully budgetary control and huge influence on development decisions (I'm saying this from news stories that have been increasing over the past couple years, with insiders relating this, and ex employees confirming). So how much control their contract may have stipulated certainly wouldn't have held Activision back; even a single missed milestone would have allowed Activision a foot in the door to dictate how Bungie functioned.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
"...only mights and maybes."
They could very well have other deals, but right now we only know of a single 100m investment, which relative to the scope of the Destiny IP, is a tiny amount of money. The first Destiny had 25m players by the end of 2015; not even including dlc's and microtransactions, it's a billion+ dollar franchise.
I don't think there's a lot of reason to think that NetEase is going to be their sugar daddy.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand