Bungie Announces Collaboration with Activision, Aims for World Domination

Bungie, the creator of the Halo franchise and the well-known Master Chief character, and Activision Blizzard, the self-described number one online game publisher, have announced they are entering into an agreement for the next 10 years. The latter will be getting the exclusive rights to publish all new Bungie videogames that are set to appear on multiple platforms. Apparently, the terms of the agreement specify that Bungie will keep the rights to all their intellectual property.

Halo developer Bungie separated from Microsoft in 2007 and repeatedly claimed that it planned to work on a new intellectual property after the launch of Halo: Reach. Halo titles have so far managed to create revenue of more than 1.5 billion dollars globally. No actual details on what they might be creating have been revealed but with the new partnership taking form, an announcement could actually come before the end of the current year. Bungie is saying that studio creative director Jason Jones is leading the team designing a new universe and characters.

Already, a lot of fans of the Halo universe and of the way Bungie has been developing its titles are saying that the move does not make too much sense and that there's every chance, at some point, Activision will try to take control over the developer and a repeat of the current Infinity Ward situation is possible.

Harold Ryan, who is the president of Bungie, stated, “We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise. From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”

Thomas Tippl, the Chief Operating Officer at Activision Blizzard, praised the development studio, saying, “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”