Details on Activision and Bungie‘s ten-year publishing deal announced in April 2010 have surfaced via an Activision and EA lawsuit regarding the Call of Duty franchise.
The document, obtained by the L.A Times, outlines the entirety of the deal, including release dates, platforms, and payments.
Bungie would develop four “sci-fantasy, action shooter games,” code-named “Destiny,” which would be released every other year beginning in fall 2013. Four downloadable expansion packs, code-named “Comet,” are to be put out every other year beginning in fall 2014. The games would be rated T for Teen / PEGI 16.
The first “Destiny” game would be exclusive to Xbox consoles, including Xbox 360 and its successor, which the document refers to as “Xbox 720,” while games two through four would be made available for “PlayStation 4” and PC, as well. If feasible, a PlayStation 3 version of the first game would be released in fall 2014.
Bungie would net $2.5 million a year in bonuses between 2010 and 2013 if it meets quality and budget milestones. If the first “Destiny” receives a 90 or higher on review score aggregator GameRankings.com, Bungie would receive another $2.5 million. The developer would receive 20% to 35% of the game’s “operating income.” It would have a $50 million budget to spend developing the game, and maintain ownership of the intellectual property.
The document also reveals a new Marathon game to be in development. It mentions Bungie’s right to devote up to 5 percent of its staff to developing an action-shooter prototype called “Marathon” while still under contract with the publisher.
Update (10:18 p.m.): Bungie has commented on the leak.
“Well, that just happened…” it titled its latest news post.
“So, yeah. While we’re not ready to show you what we’ve been working on, we can reconfirm that we are hard at work on our new universe. We can’t wait for you to see it.
“See you starside in 2013.”