While the messy situation between Activision and Infinity Ward continues, Activision just landed a major deal. Bungie, the creators of Halo, Myth and Marathon, signed a 10-year deal with the publisher, granting Activision exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute all future Bungie games [Clarification: all future Bungie games based on the one new IP, not all future Bungie games in general]. Similar to the deal that Respawn formed with Electronic Arts, Bungie will continue to own their intellectual property (Halo is a Microsoft property, however).
The developer noted that the "groundbreaking alliance will provide Bungie its first such partnership since splitting off from Microsoft in 2007, significantly broadening its global reach by providing the resources and support to develop, distribute and release games worldwide on multiple platforms and devices."
“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.”
“Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,” stated Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”
Bungie's games have sold more than 25 million units worldwide. The Halo franchise in particular has generated approximately $1.5 billion in revenues, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and GfK. Whatever Bungie's next IP is, there's a good chance it could be a hit. As such, Activision noted that it does expect this agreement "to be accretive to its operating margins as of the release of the first game."
7 Comments
April 29, 2010
I'm amazed that Bungie would sign a contract with Activision, given how little it appears contracts matter to Activision. Bungie is either very naive or they feel they've got some great lawyers. Still, if any studio has the potential to create a great new franchise, Bungie would be it. It's a good deal for Activision to sign and hope that people (and investors) forget about the Infinity Ward mess.
April 29, 2010
If I had to guess, I'd say most of the details for this agreement were hammered out before IW started disintegrating. The good news is for Bungie (and Bungie fans) is that they'll retail all IP and will remain independent, so as there's little worry that they'll endure the same fate as IW.
April 29, 2010
Yeah, I agree with David. Things like this take a while to hammer out, so this deal was probably done before anyone knew how bad the IW situation had gotten. It still sort of surprises me though.
April 29, 2010
Hope Bungie is getting most of money upfront..
April 29, 2010
"While the messy situation between Infinity Ward and Bungie continues..."
What did I miss is there an issue between these guys now? ^_-
Bungie has done it right here, Activision you can publish our games, but we still run our company and still own our game rights. A much better deal than being purchased like Infinity Ward was.
April 29, 2010
Crap... you're correct pawwof, that's a typo... thanks, fixing now...
April 29, 2010
I'm thinking your fans disagree Bungie. This is just sad. I wonder how long before the news that Activision came up with a reason to Sue Bungie.