Bungie has parted ways with Activision and is taking the Destiny franchise with them to publish on their own.
The eight-year deal between Bungie and publisher Activision came to a close after being announced on the Bungie website. The partnership began in 2010 when Bungie as an independent studio needed the support of an established publishing partner to push the studio’s vision for Destiny.
In the news release Bungie thanked Activision for their partnership and enjoyed the eight-year run.
For players, the planned transition process is underway in the early stages with both companies being committed to making the handoff as seamless as possible.
Bungie went on to talk stats about the Destiny franchise with “a combination of over 50 million games and expansions to players all around the world.” They also mentioned with Forsaken that they have listened, learned, and more is on the way.
Lastly Bungie went on to thank the community of millions of Guardians for their continued support. Bungie is aware that self-publishing will not be easy and they intent is to learn as they grow as an independent studio.
Over on the Activision side, they too expressed their thanks for being able to help bring the world of Destiny to life.
In business news, Activision stock saw nearly a 7% drop in after hours trading. The stock in after hours ended at 47.79 off from the close of 51.35 on a day where the stock had closed up by just slightly over 1%. Activision trades on the NASDAQ under ATVI and has been in a negative trend since the fourth quarter of 2018 and off the early October 2018 highs of above 83.