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Activision and Bungie Teaming Up For a Multiplatform Series

by Neal Ronaghan - April 30, 2010, 9:04 am EDT
Total comments: 22

The Halo creators inked a 10-year deal with Activision with the stipulation that they'll retain the ownership of the franchise.

Activision announced that they have signed a 10-year publishing deal with Bungie, the former Microsoft-owned studio who created the Halo franchise.

The new property, which will hit all major platforms, is an "action game universe."

Despite the deal, Bungie will remain independent and own the rights to the new franchise. The specifics of the deal were not revealed, but Activision only holds exclusive rights to this specific property.

Additionally, it has been confirmed that the game will not be shown at E3 2010, so the official reveal of this new series is still a ways off.

Talkback

The new franchise might come to Wii/DS, but those versions won't be developed by Bungie, you can be sure.

ControlerFleXApril 30, 2010

In lieu of the Infinity Ward debacle it was super important to Bungie to keep "some" ownership of the IP's that there going to develop.

Reading this article plus Jonnys' comment made me go,

"Yaaaaa!, awwww man.... wait.... aaww man"

Because it's cool that this developer can go multiplatform(it kinda already could but that's a technicality), But Jonny's right, there's no way they would want to spend the time to "add in" motion controls(there not too high on that stuff, no matter how many platforms it's on) aaaaaand what ever they make will probably be developed for the 360, half a$$ ported to the PS3 i.e., not using any cell tech, and be a joke on the Wii and some two cartridge crap on the DS al-la Transformers......I sound bitter don't I......

BlackNMild2k1April 30, 2010

Transformers was a 2 cart game?

a bigger cart was too expensive?

Mop it upApril 30, 2010

This is one of the most vague pieces of news I've seen, and is quite possibly not relevant to a Nintendo-focused site.
Must be a slow news day.

BlackNMild2k1April 30, 2010

Quote from: Mop

This is one of the most vague pieces of news I've seen, and is quite possibly not relevant to a Nintendo-focused site.
Must be a slow news day.

Well they did manage to make a whole news story today out of a piece of information that was known from almost 4 weeks ago.

Kytim89April 30, 2010

I find the thought of Bungie Studios developing for the wii quite intriging. I mean all they have done for the past ten years is develop games for a more powerful gaming console. I would like to see them flex their FPS muscle on the wii and show all the third parties how those games are made on wii(I am looking at you Conduit). A good RPG game from Bungie would not be that bad either.

ControlerFleXApril 30, 2010

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

Transformers was a 2 cart game?

a bigger cart was too expensive?

Ha Ha, naw it was a Decepticon/Autobot thing like Pokemon..... but not.

In defense of my news stories...

1) One of the premier Xbox 360-exclusive developers inked a deal with Activision for a multiplatform release (that means Wii!). Even if specifics are sparse, that is still a big deal.

2) Yes, Next Level was known to be working on Transformers, but a lot of the other information was unconfirmed. Also, let's get real: most of us only care about that Transformers game because Next Level is working on it.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMay 01, 2010

Quote from: Mop

This is one of the most vague pieces of news I've seen, and is quite possibly not relevant to a Nintendo-focused site.
Must be a slow news day.

The news was big enough that it was covered by most gaming sites. Like Neal explained, Bungie is known for being one of the most prominent developers on the Xbox and the 360. And Activision, regardless of what you think of their games and business practices, is one of the biggest gaming companies here, and they support the Wii and DS. So yes, the news is quite important.

Just because it may not be relevant to YOU it doesn't mean that it will be irrelevant for everyone else.

Frankly, we have had far more vague news stories and no one minded them. This at least has a bit more meat on the bones.

ControlerFleXMay 01, 2010

Uuuuuh... I..... like...... the..... news.... sssst..oriiiii.....

Mop it upMay 01, 2010

Quote from: NWR_Neal

1) One of the premier Xbox 360-exclusive developers inked a deal with Activision for a multiplatform release (that means Wii!).

Considering this developer has never made a game for a Nintendo system, I wouldn't assume that multiplatform means the Wii. Games released on both the XBox 360 and PS3 are sometimes referred to as multiplatform releases. Unless it is confirmed that it is coming to Wii or DS, it is irrelevant to Nintendo owners. Just my opinion I guess, I s'pose this site has become a bit more general than just Nintendo.

Mop, just because you INTERPRET this as non-Nintendo news does not make that interpretation fact.  Bungie is now multiplatform, which means they might make a game for a Nintendo system in some way, shape, or form down the line.

greybrickNathan Mustafa, Staff AlumnusMay 01, 2010

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

Mop, just because you INTERPRET this as non-Nintendo news does not make that interpretation fact.  Bungie is now multiplatform, which means they might make a game for a Nintendo system in some way, shape, or form down the line.

Look at what happened with Call of Duty. This is definitely multiplatform news, even if bungie retains its intellectual properties.

Quote from: ControlerFleX

Uuuuuh... I..... like...... the..... news.... sssst..oriiiii.....

tttthaaaannnnkkkkk yooooouuuu...

Mop it upMay 01, 2010

I hope you're right, but I'm certainly not going to assume it. Assumptions can be dangerous, especially with the videogames industry.

I totally agree, and I'm as jaded as the next guy if not moreso, but the fact remains that Bungie is now free to make games for Nintendo platforms.  Whether or not they do so another matter entirely.

NinGurl69 *hugglesMay 01, 2010

Games like Cabela's The DEADLIEST HUNT.

MorariMay 01, 2010

Does this mean that they can go back to making little-known Mac games now? :P

GoldenPhoenixMay 01, 2010

Quote from: Morari

Does this mean that they can go back to making little-known Mac games now? :P

I'd rather them go back to the Myth series, loved that series. It is still my favorite RTS series because it focused on the management of your troops rather then resource gathering. Hadf some really amazing battles in that game with other people.

MorariMay 01, 2010

I've been playing the StarCraft II beta for a while now. I was never too heavy into the first game, but was exposed to it enough through the love my siblings had for it. I still suck at the series, and I generally feel that it is because I cannot properly balance resource gathering and troop management. I always end up with a huge, sprawling base that's fully upgraded, yet has very little in the way of actual troops. Whether that's the fault of my play style or not is questionable, but it would certainly be refreshing to be able to focus more on strategy than resource gathering.

CalibanMay 01, 2010

"I absolutely believe there is a place in the world for the Wii," Harold Ryan, president of Bungie," told me after I asked him about the repeated use of the phrase "multiple platforms."

"When you look at platforms and core competitive game experiences, it's probably not that," he said. "But as we go through this franchise we will look at every platform people play on."


Source: http://kotaku.com/5527365/will-bungies-next-big-thing-require-a-subscription

Dirk TemporoMay 02, 2010

Quote from: Mop

Considering this developer has never made a game for a Nintendo system, I wouldn't assume that multiplatform means the Wii.

And before Halo, they had never made a game for a Microsoft system. In fact,the only systems they had made games for were PS2 and PC (used as a general "personal computer" term, including Macs). Honestly I would love to see them come back to PC. As far as I'm concerned, Oni is the best game they've produced. It was a third-person beat 'em up that was actually fun and had intuitive controls, and a bunch of different combos you could do. I would LOVE a sequel, but that obviously won't be coming from this deal with Activision.

I'm very interested to see what's going to come of this though.

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