In a shocking turn of events, Bungie announced their emancipation from publisher Activision Thursday afternoon.
The developer of Destiny and Destiny 2 (not to mention the original developers of the Halo series) broke with Activision before the end of their ten year agreement, which was due to expire in 2020.
While the world celebrated Bungie’s newfound freedom, including luminaries from their former partner Microsoft, the jubilation may be premature. While Bungie is free from their unhappy relationship with Activision, Bungie is not entirely free from a master.
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
That’s because the dissolution of Bungie’s marriage came courtesy of a large cash infusion from Chinese company NetEase.
In 2018, the Verge reported that NetEase had made a substantial $100 million dollar investment into the first-person shooter maestros; an investment which granted the Chinese firm a minority stake in the company, as well as a seat on Bungie’s board of directors.
“Halo and Destiny studio Bungie announced a major partnership with Chinese tech and gaming company NetEase, “to help us explore new directions.” The deal is to the tune of $100 million, giving the NetEase a minority stake in Bungie, as well as a seat on its board of directors.”
NetEase has also tasted the fruit of another Activision partner recently: Blizzard.
$100 million can buy a measure of freedom…and really shinny armor!
Blizzard of course made rather unpleasant headlines towards the end of 2018 through the announcement of Diablo Immortal; the extremely poorly received mobile adaptation of the insanely beloved action-RPG series. Blizzard made the mistake in late 2018 of closing out their annual fan-fest, Blizzcon with the announcement of Diablo: Immortal. The intensely loyal and “hardcore” fans in attendance promptly rejected the announcement (to put it mildly), with some even accusing Blizzard of doing little more than adapting a NetEase-developed mobile game, Crusaders of Light, currently available exclusively in China.
While Bungie now has their independence from their former masters, as well as the rights to self-publish the Destiny series, that freedom came with a hefty price; and it’s only natural to expect that this new proverbial sugar daddy will expect to have a say in the future that the company peruses.
As a song from the hit movie Team America: World Police says:
“Freedom isn’t free.
It costs folks like you and me.
And if you don’t throw in your buck ‘o five, who will?”
Written by The Watchman
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