History of Destiny<\/h2>\n
Bungie was the developer behind Microsoft\u2019s massive hit Halo franchise.\u00a0 Until 2007, Microsoft actually owned Bungie.\u00a0 Bungie became independent right after the launch of Halo 3.\u00a0 In 2010, Bungie announced a 10-year publishing deal with Activision Blizzard.\u00a0 Under terms of the deal, Bungie retained the rights to its IP.<\/p>\n
The new IP from Bungie was a franchise called Destiny.\u00a0 The original Destiny had a huge launch in the fall of 2014.\u00a0 However, reviews were somewhat mixed, and many saw the initial Destiny as a disappointment.<\/p>\n
The goal of the Destiny franchise was to provide a living game with ongoing content.\u00a0 However, from the start there was concern about Destiny\u2019s loot system that favored experienced players and\/or people that paid a lot of money to become good.\u00a0 See this article from Forbes shortly after the game\u2019s release.<\/a><\/p>\n Destiny got regular updates until a sequel was launched in the fall of 2017.\u00a0 Destiny 2 started off to better reviews and even better sales than the original.\u00a0 However, the buzz over Destiny 2 seemed to quickly die off.\u00a0 In December 2017, the expansion the Curse of Osiris was widely panned.<\/p>\n Polygon did a good end of <\/a>the year 2018 wrap up about the struggles Destiny 2 has faced.\u00a0 This article, written a week before the break between Activision and Bungie, described Destiny 2 as a game on the upswing after the release of the Forsaken expansion in September 2018.\u00a0 But they also concluded:<\/p>\n Even with these past few months of positivity, it\u2019s hard to look back on this year of\u00a0Destiny 2\u00a0and not see a troubled game.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, the seeds had been set for several years for discontentment to rise between Bungie and Activision.\u00a0 We were surprised by the announcement because as the Polygon article mentioned, recent months had seen an improvement in Destiny 2.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it had been clear since the launch of the original game that Destiny was a troubled franchise.\u00a0 In November, Activision even cited a disappointing launch of Destiny 2 Forsaken as why they struggled to meet earnings.<\/p>\n Many analysts expressed surprise that Bungie got the rights to the Destiny IP.\u00a0 However, it was clearly stated in the original 10-year agreement back in 2010 that Bungie owned Destiny.\u00a0 There was only about a year to go on the 10-year period.\u00a0 Valuing Destiny as a core Activision franchise was already troubled.<\/p>\n The more meaningful issue is what does this say about the ability of large publishers like Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts to compete in a world where the strategic focus of the game industry is rapidly changing?\u00a0 The ironically titled Destiny says a great deal about the future.<\/p>\n For years, Activision, Electronic Arts have talked about moving from a physical business to a digital business. \u00a0However, it is much more than that.\u00a0 It is about the movement to games-as-a-service and even the inevitability of streaming game services.\u00a0 In these areas, the traditional game publishers are fairly weak.<\/p>\n The movement to games-as-a-service and streaming games are issues that have been huge topics of recent DFC Intelligence research.\u00a0 In October 2018, DFC published the Business of Video Games report<\/a> where we specifically talked about the challenge\u2019s publishers like Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts faced.\u00a0 We even wrote a piece about how both companies are making investments in the space.<\/p>\n Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard Focus on Games As A Service<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Destiny](\"https:\/\/www.dfcint.com\/dossier\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/atvi.jpg\")
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