Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Bungie and Activision Strike 10 Year Exclusive Deal

By

Just when you thought Activision might firmly be embedded in a downward spiral, they make an announcement that could change everything. It was announced today that Bungie, maker of the Halo franchise, have signed an exclusive 10-year deal with Activision to publish Bungie’s newest franchise IP. In basketball terms, it would be the equivalent of LeBron James signing with the Boston Celtics.

Details of the deal are as yet unknown, but the Seattle based Bungie would remain an autonomous studio. The deal with Activision seems to be for one specific new franchise that Bungie has been working on but has not yet announced, and it will be multiplatform.

Recommended Videos

In the statement issued by Activision, the publisher announced “that they have entered into an exclusive 10-year partnership to bring Bungie’s next big action game universe to market,” the statement read, “Under the terms of the agreement, Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute all future Bungie games based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices. Bungie remains an independent company and will continue to own their intellectual property.”

To call the news shocking undervalues the word “shocking”. The recent news coming from Activision has been a steady stream of negativity. This week alone there was a new lawsuit that claimed Infinity Ward employees have had their bonuses withheld to force them to complete work on Modern Warfare 3. Then rumors begin to circulate that the publisher is going to close Infinity Ward for good. Next, the LA Times reported that Activision was quietly restructuring, which culminated in the president and CEO Michael Griffith being restructured right out of a job. Then just when things looked bleak, Activision drops the news that they have signed an exclusive deal with what is already one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the next few years, despite the fact that no one was even 100 percent sure that it existed until today.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the entire deal is that despite the scrutiny Activision has been under for the Infinity Ward drama, and despite the microscope Bungie has existed beneath since anticipation for the Halo: Reach game really began to grow, the two companies negotiated the entire deal in total secrecy. For nine months.

“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” said Harold Ryan, President of Bungie. “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.”

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Fleming
Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
Video game voice actors are poised for a strike after successful SAG-AFTRA vote
The Last of Us 2 Ellie Gun

Hollywood is currently in the middle of a significant actors strike, and the same could potentially happen soon in the video game industry as well. SAG-AFTRA members voted to authorize a game actors strike, setting the stage for a potential disruption in the industry if current negotiations with publishers don't go according to plan.

The SAG-AFTRA union represents actors across all entertainment mediums, but the strike that's been active since July excluded the game industry. The game industry's separate contract with the actors' union is almost up, so SAG-AFTRA is in the heat of negotiations with companies like Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, and WB Games to create a better contract for its workers. If those negotiations fail, video game actors can go on strike to disrupt the game industry for failing to adequately meet their demands. A strike like that needs to be authorized by a majority of the union's members, though; thankfully for SAG-AFTRA, internal support was overwhelming.
A total of 34,687 SAG-AFTRA members cast ballots in a vote to authorize a strike, and 98.32% of them supported a strike authorization, according to a SAG-AFTRA press release. This doesn't mean video game actors are now on strike, just that they're willing to go on one if negotiations fail. SAG-AFTRA says these game studios "have refused to offer acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members, including wages that keep up with inflation, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence, and basic safety precautions," which is why a strike was organized.
SAG-AFTRA and these video game companies are in bargaining sessions between today and September 28, so we'll soon see what impact this successful strike authorization vote will have on the video game industry. 

Read more
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is about to clear its final hurdle
microsoft activision blizzard acquisition uk preliminary approval mwiii reveal full 006

Microsoft has had a tough time getting its acquisition of Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard approved, but it just cleared a major hurdle. The U.K.'s CMA, which previously blocked the acquisition over concerns about its impact on the cloud gaming market, says that it has "provisionally concluded" that Microsoft has addressed its biggest issues with the acquisition.

Namely, it likes that Microsoft will give the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. "The prior sale of the cloud gaming rights will establish Ubisoft as a key supplier of content to cloud gaming services, replicating the role that Activision would have played in the market as an independent player," the CMA explained in a press release. "In contrast to the original deal, Microsoft will no longer control cloud gaming rights for Activision’s content, so would not be in a position to limit access to Activision’s key content to its own cloud gaming service or to withhold those games from rivals."
Its press release also reveals that Ubisoft will have the ability to make "Microsoft to port Activision games to operating systems other than Windows and support game emulators when requested." Essentially, it's pleased that Microsoft no longer has an iron grip on Activision Blizzard games outside of the Xbox ecosystem and is closer to supporting the deal because of it. Of course, both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are pretty happy about this.
"We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process," Microsoft president Brad Smith tweeted. "We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline."
Meanwhile, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson provided Digital Trends with the following statement: "The CMA’s preliminary approval is great news for our future with Microsoft. We’re pleased the CMA has responded positively to the solutions Microsoft has proposed, and we look forward to working with Microsoft toward completing the regulatory review process."
A final decision from the CMA is expected to be made by October 6. As Smith mentioned, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is expected to close by October 18.

Read more
What Payday 3’s devs learned from 10 years of success and microtransaction scandals
Men with masks hold guns in Payday 3.

How do you follow up a game that’s been running for 10 years? That’s a tricky plan that the developers at Starbreeze Studios would have to create and execute with Payday 3.

Launching on September 21, Payday 3 will have the tough task of following up its incredibly successful predecessor Payday 2, a bank-robbing multiplayer classic that’s been a staple on Steam since 2013. With a fresh coat of paint and a move to the more flexible Unreal Engine, it may sound like Starbreeze is poised to pull off the perfect crime. But as with any heist, it’s never as easy as it sounds on paper. There’s a world of difference between 2013 and 2023, especially in the multiplayer landscape. It’s a far more competitive scene; even games by the biggest studios in the world find themselves shutting down within a year. If Starbreeze was going to get its bag, it would need an ironclad plan -- and it has one.

Read more