Bungie Going Solo With Destiny Has Fans Rejoicing

Bungie is once again an independent studio today after announcing it's splitting up with publishing partner Activision. And the general mood surrounding the news seems to be positive, all things considered.

Destiny developer Bungie, formerly known for its work in creating the Halo series, entered into a partnership with Activision back in 2010. Back then Bungie and Activision promised to work together for 10 years, but nine years later that partnership has fallen through. Activision was not happy with the performance of 2017's Destiny 2, and Bungie reportedly also had issues with Activision.

All this made for some meaty gossip which Bungie and Destiny fans eventually began taking as the spoken truth. Whenever issues in Destiny 2 came up, especially with regards to monetization, most players pointed a finger at Activision. Whether or not this is the whole truth of the matter, the community has taken to believe certain things about the relationship between Bungie and Activision.

Which is why the mood after Bungie's split from Activision appears to be largely optimistic. After all, with Bungie being an independent company again, there's a chance that Destiny as a franchise will become better off.

On the Destiny subreddit, the overarching mood appears to be that of cautious optimism. Many of the comments responding to Bungie's blog post announcing the split seem to be either positive or approving.

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On Twitter, the reactions are largely the same, but maybe even more congratulatory. Developers seem to be celebrating Bungie's newly gained independence, while other game companies like Xbox are wishing Bungie the best for their future.

Looking forward to a very bright future working with one of my favorite independent studios on one of my favorite franchises. Excited to see how they continue to grow and evolve Destiny.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 10, 2019

Delighted for Bungie. Honestly, that 10-year deal left a bad taste in my mouth from the moment I first read about it. Hopefully, this means they can now create the game they want. It's time to forget about these big-budget partnerships and build success with their community.
— dannyodwyer (@dannyodwyer) January 10, 2019

*buys 10 extra copies of @DestinyTheGame*http://go.redirectingat.com?id=87431X1573192&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F57Qpio4ux9
— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) January 10, 2019

Wow, congratulations @Bungie ! http://go.redirectingat.com?id=87431X1573192&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F9WFVS3Xhas
— Mark Rein (@MarkRein) January 10, 2019

As a unwavering Destiny fan, the news of Bungie becoming a independent publisher has me excited beyond words. So stoked to see where we are headed pic.twitter.com/e8CYPCik5x
— Chad (@Slick2423) January 10, 2019

Bungie's sole independence is a little inaccurate (the company did sell a minority stake to Chinese company NetEase for $100 million), and there are questions about what the company will do in the future. Will Bungie partner with another company like Epic Games for example to release future Destiny titles on PC? Will Bungie go back to work with Microsoft as some Halo fans hope? Will Bungie work with Devolver Digital?

Hey, what’s up.
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) January 10, 2019

Kotaku reports that internally the mood at Bungie was joyous upon learning the company was splitting from Activision. According to one source present during the announcement at Bungie, there was cheering and champagne.

This news means that we'll see what Bungie does with the Destiny IP without the involvement of Activision for the first time in nine years. Bungie's agreement with Activision meant that there needed to an annual release, either in the form of a new game or expansion. But now that Bungie is no longer beholden to that agreement, this could be a chance for Destiny to evolve in a direction closer to Bungie's preferred development and creative style.