Activision and Bungie Split: What does it mean for Destiny and the Gaming Industry

The biggest news in gaming this week which obviously nobody was expecting and came out of the blue for better or worse was Bungie splitting up with Activision.

Yes, the Halo and Destiny developer are parting ways with Activision Blizzard for unknown reasons and will receive the full publishing and developing rights for Destiny and any other future projects they decide to indulge in.

Initially signed as a 10 year deal back in 2010 with Activision for multiple projects, it's a bit shocking to see Bungie pull off but then they had done this in the past with Microsoft as well.

The important thing is that the fans as well as the people at Bungie are happy and celebrating this sudden decision which definitely points towards toxic work environment at Activision.

Nevertheless, Bungie will gain full rights for Destiny and there won't be any hindrance regarding the game's working as Activision and Bungie both confirmed.

The PC Version will still receive full support on BattleNet and we do not anticipate any disruption to our services or your gameplay experience,"

Blizzard confirmed later on.

But the biggest unanswered question is how will Bungie move on from here onwards?

Let's dive into three possibilities as of how this split will affect Destiny, Bungie as well as the Gaming Industry as in whole.

#1.Moving forward with Destiny 2 as well the forthcoming Destiny 3.

Recently an Industry expert claimed that Destiny might be releasing as early as in 2020.

AnonTheNine, the Reddit user has previously made bold predictions as well and they have often come out as true so this piece of news might also be correct.

AnonTheNine also confirmed that the new Destiny will focus on adding more RPG elements than the previous games.

This could be great news for fans since previous Destiny experiences have been very polarising. Bungie has been successful in providing good quality expansions such as Forsaken as well the Taken King, but when it comes to the base game, they have all lacked quality content.

This polarising take which some might claim was because of Activision forcing Bungie to release content early and annually, resulting in the developer not giving out the full potential.

But since now the studio will have full creative control of their IP, it would be interesting to see how Destiny 3 shapes up to be as well as the type of changes the ongoing Destiny 2 receives.

#2. Finding another Publisher.

Being a self-publisher ain't an easy task which Bungie knows very well of course since after splitting up with Microsoft back in 2007 they went completely dark for a while before signing that 10 year deal with Activision which came to an end now.

So yes, maybe Bungie is already on the lookout for another Publisher who would provide them with the much needed financial support as well as giving the studio enough creative freedom to work as they please.

Sony seems to be the ideal partner for them of course seemingly because they treat their first party studios very well and also PlayStation doesn't really own a good exclusive multiplayer shooter, Bungie might be able to fill in that gap. This is very unlikely however but one can't rule out this possibility.

The only big self-publishing studio as of now is the Polish-based CD PROJEKT RED which works independently and yes indeed has a lot of money to do so.

Bungie even though not as big CD PROJEKT RED might just try being independent or find a temporary partner like From Software does.

#3. More Studios becoming Independent.

Gaming publishers tend to be a little toxic these days, the likes of microtransactions, paid dlcs, and service-based titles lurk in the minds of almost every publisher because this brings in a lot of money.

The biggest victim of this is one of the most beloved gaming company- Bethesda with their recent release Fallout 76.

Now, it's the game developers who are being accused of the problems caused by their publishers which the community is now realising.

Assumingly, for the most part, it wasn't the fault of BGS(Bethesda Game Studio) that Fallout 76 failed to meet the fans expectation or to begin with even exists because BGS really wanted to make something like that

Bethesda Game Studios is one of the best gaming developers around and their games have consecutively won the GOTY awards in 2006, 2008 and in 2011.

It is highly unlikely that Fallout 76 was their mistake, rather it was of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media which either force them to make that game or didn't provide them with enough time and resources to polish out the contents, or both.

Same goes for Kojima and Konami fiasco a few years back which is considered one of the most shocking splits in the modern gaming industry.

If that wasn't enough, Bioware-The EA based studio which was once regarded as the fan favourites with the likes of classic RPGs such as Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect Trilogy etc ended up making a very buggy mess called Mass Effect Andromeda and has been probably forced to invest their time and resources in an always online shared world shooter Anthem just because EA thinks that single player games don't work anymore?

With Bungie splitting up with Activision, its high time other talented studios do the same and make passionate projects which they actually want to make.

Who knows the next major split we hear about is Bioware becoming independent and gaining full control of Mass Effect and Dragon Age series? Here's hoping that is sooner than later.

What are your thoughts regarding the entire situation? Should more Gaming Studios become Independent? Tell us in the comments down below.