In a tremendous move with all sorts of implications, Activision and Bungie have closed on a 10-year publishing-agreement. Here’s a snippet from the press release:
They have entered into an exclusive 10-year partnership to bring Bungie’s next big action game universe to market. Under the terms of the agreement, Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute all future Bungie games based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices. Bungie remains an independent company and will continue to own their intellectual property. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The partnership is brilliant for Activision on several levels. It helps take attention away from nasty legal battle with its former Infinity Ward employees. It also replaces the talent lost from Infinity Ward creators jumping to Respawn. Since Infinity Ward clearly isn’t going to be the powerhouse studio it once was, Activision needed to replace it with another top-notch studio. Bungie is one of the few studios that can match the quality and success that Infinity Ward brought to the table. There are many gamers that would argue that Bungie makes better games.
As for Bungie…well, it has a partner with a boatload of money and global marketing muscle. Gamers will also see its titles on multiple platforms, which will be huge.
Naturally, I want to hear your thoughts on the partnership. Let ’em fly (please)!
Ohhh Bungie why?
I saw this and got me to thinking, Bungie on PS3, 360, PC = Ass loads of $$$$
As long as Activision is pushing not controlling the IPs all is well in my eyes.
@Big Blak Exactly!
This is not really surprising. Bungie has already stated that they are done with Halo after Reach and that they were going multi platform. I think it's safe to say that Bungie's new IP is a shooter. I wonder how similar it will be to Halo?
@Big Blak
Activision controlled COD and look at the $$$$ that brought them.
hmmmm…this is huge
if infinity ward is no more…is it possible that activision gives bungie the COD engine and asks them to make the next one?…
It will be nice to have Bungie(esque) games on the PS3. I think it is a smart move for all involved but is really going to benefit gaming as a whole. Its nice to have good publisher have access to a wider market.
@ RROD
No doubt! I've never really liked the COD franchise but it has gotten shittier, in my opinion, with each release. There is absolutely nothing ground breaking with that series other than $$$$ it makes. Unfortunately the world is full of non thinking people and non thinking people love mindless entertainment. If you love COD thats great, I hate it.
@RROD
Bungie will never be done with Halo.
@thundercracker
No. The agreement is for a new IP not an exsisting one. Bungie has there own engine they use anyway.
Which brings me to my real point, ID is no longer publishing with Activision and Activision needs a new game engine. (CoD uses ID's game ingine) Activision probably wants their hands on Bungie's engine as it is actually a really good game engine.
@Big Blak
I hear you but Halo 3 is nothing ground breaking either but you have to respect the fact that so many people bought and it's probably still one of the most played games on XBL. I agree that the masses are "non thinking" and flock to the next big shooter like sheep though. It's a shame that only shooters can sell those huge numbers.
@Sandrock
"We'll still have an attachment to Halo through Reach, but we definitely won't be producing any new Halo projects beyond Reach," said Jarrard.
http://www.videogamer.com/news/bungie_we_definite…
@ RROD
Yep that's another game I can't stand man but your right.
@Big Blak
Man, you're a tough customer. What shooters DO you like?
@ RROD
Lol, I love FAR CRY 2!!! Borderlands and both L4D's are pretty fun. I really like single player games and if I'm playing online I'd rather play with than against you. Puzzle games and RPGs are def my favorite genre of games.
COD's control scheme is perfect…it can not be improved upon..thats why i love that series
all the other shit they added to this one make mw2 hard to enjoy, for me anyways
so i agree with big blak that mw>mw2
@Big Blak
I loathe the COD franchise also, but there is one aspect of the game I have really been enjoying lately…the Special Ops. It good fun in short burst with or w/o friends. Other than that I don't play it. I tried playing it online but I guess I am too used to Bad Company 2 at this point because I couldn't get the controls down before I was wasted over and over.
@Thundercracker
Totally agree. COD is my favorite online shooter but they added some horrible crap in MW2 that pisses me off. The main thing that pisses me off is people running 30mph and teleporting through your bullets to knife you from 10ft away. I actually enjoyed COD WAW the most, and yes, over COD4. COD4 became a grenade fest with the 3 grenade perk 1. They cut it down to 2 grenades in WAW and made it much better. Plus, I absolutely loved calling in the dogs.
@slickyfats
I don't like Bad Company 2 because I don't like the weighty feel to the controls. It's not as bad as Killzone 2 but it's still not precise as I would like it to be.
@rrod
i suck at WAW..and totally agreed on the lightweight+commando jerkoffs
@RROD
The weight feels right in Bad Co 2. It's not like CoD where you can turn around in 0.000000000000001 seconds and prone is not missed what so ever. No Halo jumping and no CoD prone shooting make it much better imo.
@ Sandrock
I agree. To me COD is the Arcade version of death simulators (FPS) it just to damn fast for my eyes.
@RROD
Yeah i felt the difference when I played MW2 compared to BC2. Its just I thought MW2 felt jerky as hell. It doesn't feel right to me. I enjoy the weight of the characters. MW2 feels very arcade shooter responsive to me. I enjoyed (or maybe got used to) the lag/weight in KZ2 and BC2. Can't say why for sure but it just seems like something that should be there now.
CoD isn't bad on default settings and wouldn't be bad if they didn't let you jack the sensitivity up to counter competitive levels. Combine that with prone shooting and you have Halo. I'm glad Re spawn is under EA, they know how to let devs make games. (wasn't always and isn't always true, but they have improved allot over the years.)
Activision is the devil. Can't wait for Kotick to start doing what he does to Bungie. Not a big fan of the Halo gameplay anyway so it really doesn't mean a thing to me, one way or the other.
Talking point: Is Bungie Kotick proof?
I just want my character to be able to do what i want him to do when i want him to do it
im used to the unbelievable response time in COD, and i get upset when i die in other games because i couldnt lift my machine gun fast enough, or if i aim and the red dot goes clear across the screen when i wanted it to go only go over an inch…its a symptom of a larger issue i have in life. I like for things to be done the way i want them to be done at all times. I hate things that are out my control
@thundercracker
Are you Steve Jobs?
@sandrock
if i was, you all would be part of the "apple" empire….muhahahaha
no, seriously though, you all would have very high paying jobs doing absolutely nothing
@thundercracker
I would also like company box seats for the Superdome and floor seats for the Hornets. Thankyou.
Depends on that contract. I could see them getting pissed about Acti being pricks about DLC or sequels.
@Ray
Nothing is (Ricky) Bobby proof. He is going to find a way to manipulate this contract to his gain. Look at the new IW lawsuit, Activision is withholding contractual bonuses in order to force development on MW3. Bungie is not safe from him, but they have a loop hole. This contract seems to be for one new IP and Bungie can always go back to making Halo for Microsoft. They might even be able to sign a publishing deal with a different publisher for a different IP.
Just got my HDMI cable! Now all I have to do is survive 2 1/2 hours left @ work.
@Sandrock
Unless that contract states they will give 4-5 titles and produce X amount of DLC packages. Bungie would be liable for breach. Worst case scenario of course.
@smatguy
They'd just make a bunch of ODST games. I'm sure there is a number of games they need to make in that time frame (three is my guess), but I think we will see more games made like ODST. (A side project in-between major games.) They had allot of success with ODST and they will want to do that more often.
@Sandrock
I hope the games feel like full titles then. I'm glad I played it at a friend's place. The thing felt rushed.
@Raymond Padilla
I think so. Bungie will have ownership of their new IP if I’m not mistaking so I think that makes it Kotick proof.