Destiny 3

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, word is that development has now fully ramped up for the third Destiny game that will see Bungie close out its ten year Activision contract. One of the reported locations in the game will Europa



The game is said to be shifting towards focusing more on RPG fans and away from casual players. Chris Barrett is named as the games director with 2020 being eyed as the likely release frame. The game is also said to plan inclusion of a PvPvE mode.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/23/destiny-3-rumours-leak-europa-location-and-new-pvpve-mode-8065675/

[fishbowlhead]

At least Barrett is where he belongs in the driving seat and not Luke Smith. As good as VoG was his vision of D2 was a disaster on the whole.

[Digfox]

...the third Destiny game that will see Bungie close out its ten year Activision contract.

Source? ;p

Maybe the original contract has been superceded but it was 5 + 5 (major releases and alt. DLC) over 10 years. Neither of which will have happened by D3. Although the yearly DLC may be classed as 'major' content now. But also given the money this makes there is no way Activision lets this contract end. As mentioned before it will be Activision taking the license elsewhere or buying out Bungie before that happens.

Would be a little surprised if D3 isn't 2019 although the price of the DLC now, means that there is very little in this anymore.

[Neon Ignition]

I would have thought the major expansions count as a major release, I don't know if Activision would be able to force Bungie's hand either given MS wasn't able to. I don't know where would make a good permanent good home for Bungie without them getting closed down eventually

[Digfox]

Absolutely, but that's why we can't state this game sees out Bungie's and Activision's contract

I still think there's a possibility the contract changed or Bungie were penalised in some way (Activision took control of some stock) when D2 was delivered a year late. Ultimately there is a price on everything and Activision won't simply walk away from Destiny if it doesn't want to. I also think Bungie trying to get out of the contract is possible at some point.

[fishbowlhead]

I think bungie are very lucky pubs pick them up. While destiny has undoubtedly made money, bungie are a nightmare when it comes to development, constantly re-booting at the last minute not to mention are ALWAYS years behind schedule in some cases, D1 was a year over schedule AND got a last min reboot, and D2 was a year over schedule.

Hell, the Warmind expansion & Forsaken only came out on time due to High Moon being drafted in for the bulk of development.

Wtf are the 800 staff at bungie up to? Because it’s certainly not adding anything to the game, bug fixing or development.

[Digfox]

I think bungie are very lucky pubs pick them up. While destiny has undoubtedly made money, bungie are a nightmare when it comes to development, constantly re-booting at the last minute not to mention are ALWAYS years behind schedule in some cases, D1 was a year over schedule AND got a last min reboot, and D2 was a year over schedule.

I don't know, I think when they were acquired by Microsoft they produced the defining Xbox and Xbox 360 game series. Certainly being away from Publisher pressures allowed them to shine.

However this contract is a huge amount of pressure and they clearly have to release major yearly content. Which means they must be in a constant cycle of one team on DLC and one team on the main game (maybe multiple teams on DLC if that's what they release in 2019). Plus any other stuff on this new game they are signing up for. That's why you see so little to no content in between these yearly releases. I remember at the time people arguing it was a result of difficulties with the D1 engine, but I think it's clearly just the extremely tight schedule they are under which limits them.

The other major negative is that clearly Bungie have had to be much more aggressive with their business model and this is why you see season passes for DLC, and even worse an end-game designed around lootboxes (D2).

[fishbowlhead]

I don't know, I think when they were acquired by Microsoft they produced the defining Xbox and Xbox 360 game series. Certainly being away from Publisher pressures allowed them to shine.

However this contract is a huge amount of pressure and they clearly have to release major yearly content. Which means they must be in a constant cycle of one team on DLC and one team on the main game (maybe multiple teams on DLC if that's what they release in 2019). Plus any other stuff on this new game they are signing up for. That's why you see so little to no content in between these yearly releases. I remember at the time people arguing it was a result of difficulties with the D1 engine, but I think it's clearly just the extremely tight schedule they are under which limits them.

The other major negative is that clearly Bungie have had to be much more aggressive with their business model and this is why you see season passes for DLC, and even worse an end-game designed around lootboxes (D2).

If i were Acvtivision here, i would remove Bungie from the equation, give full time dev to High Moon, keep Chris Barrett on and in complete control, plus a a second team on standby for picking up the slack on EXTRA expansions for more pve content.

Theres only 1 problem with bungie games, and thats bungie.

[Neon Ignition]

I mean, I can't think of a game they've done I'd call bad except Halo: ODST and I know many like that one but I'll make one bold statement - I don't think Bungie, for all their success, could stand on their own. I can acknowledge the original Halo for its ideas and what it was but I feel it remains an exception for them rather than a rule. Without big money publisher support on the scale they've enjoyed since that original game I don't think they'd make that much impact anymore, the games are fun but always feel dated to play which is why I enjoyed Destiny leaning more towards Borderlands territory as it allowed the gameplay to fit into a sub-genre that normally doesn't play as well as other FPS series. If they walked away from Destiny, or were jettisoned from it by Activision... I dunno...

[Digfox]

Theres only 1 problem with bungie games, and thats bungie.

I feel it remains an exception for them rather than a rule.

Personally I think that's extremely harsh. They innovated the FPS genre forward with their Halo series, whether it be gameplay norms like 2 weapons or regenerating health etc. And then defined the basis of modern multiplayer on consoles as we know it with Halo 2. Even Destiny for as much as it is a marmite game is still of high quality. The gunplay is some of the best out there.

The buyout from MS probably meant they needed investment, but maybe in the future they could go down a more self-sustaining route for funding.

[fishbowlhead]

I mean, I can't think of a game they've done I'd call bad except Halo: ODST and I know many like that one but I'll make one bold statement - I don't think Bungie, for all their success, could stand on their own. I can acknowledge the original Halo for its ideas and what it was but I feel it remains an exception for them rather than a rule. Without big money publisher support on the scale they've enjoyed since that original game I don't think they'd make that much impact anymore, the games are fun but always feel dated to play which is why I enjoyed Destiny leaning more towards Borderlands territory as it allowed the gameplay to fit into a sub-genre that normally doesn't play as well as other FPS series. If they walked away from Destiny, or were jettisoned from it by Activision... I dunno...

That's the thing, without big publisher money behind them they would sink in 2 years as they would burn through their cash so fast they wouldn't be able to blink.