Bungie Signs 10 Year Contract With Activision
Bungie, the awesome developer behind the Halo franchise, has partnered with Activision, who will publish Bungie IPs for the next ten years.
With this new deal, Activision will soon publish games from the studios behind the two most successful first person shooter franchises in the video game industry, Halo and Call of Duty. Bungie, previously tied into producing exclusives for Microsoft’s Xbox, is likely looking for greater freedom to develop for multiple platforms, with the larger audience that brings them, and the marketing power of a company that took Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to the status of best selling entertainment product of all time, a game that raked in $401 Million in its first 24 hours of release.
Bungie, then, retains its independence and gains considerable financial and marketing bonuses from the agreement. Nevertheless, the timing of the deal will appear strange to anyone with an eye on Activision, who will be aware the publisher is currently embroiled in legal battles with former Infinity Ward founders and employees over unpaid bonuses and claims of insubordination. Bungie is well known for the incredible relationship it maintains with its fans, so this partnership may represent the first moves on the part of Activision to improve its public relations and mitigate negative press surrounding the Infinity War affair.
Bungie have stopped short of announcing details of their new projects, claiming no new IPs will be announced before the release of Halo: Reach, their final collaboration with Microsoft, this holiday season. The Halo: Reach closed multiplayer beta is currently in progress, accessible through the extras menu in copies of Halo 3: ODST. The beta will end on May 19.
Source: Bungie and Activision announce exclusive, worldwide partnership
