The publisher Activision Blizzard has parted ways with the brand Destiny and transferred it to Bungie. They have now explained to investors the three reasons for this decision. One of them sounds like a content drought for Destiny 2 in 2019.
During the presentation of the financial results for Q4 2018, there was a Q&A session with analysts. COO Coddy Johnson answered the question of why Activision Blizzard has parted ways with Destiny.
Here are the three reasons for the split from Bungie:
Activision does not own the brand “Destiny.” That is the only major proprietary brand that they do not own. When you own a brand, you can create “new experiences” and thus generate new revenue streams. Additionally, you earn more financially from a brand when you own it.
On the other hand, while Destiny 2 received excellent reviews, it did not meet financial expectations. When they looked at how Activision Blizzard was financially positioned for 2019 at the end of 2018, they found indications that Destiny would not significantly contribute to revenue in 2019.
Moreover, they had used many internal resources to support Bungie’s work. This had tied up the scarcest resource, developer time. This time is now free to be used elsewhere. This likely refers to the studios of Activision, High Moon, and Vicarious Visions. They were supposed to help Bungie complete content for Destiny.
Was the separation contentious? According to Johnson, it was a “mutual” separation between Activision and Bungie. They learned in November 2018 that Bungie was willing to acquire the rights to the brand “Destiny” and began discussions that were concluded in December.
Destiny 3 is unlikely to come out in 2019 – And nothing else?
This is interesting for Destiny fans: The second reason is noteworthy for Destiny fans: Activision did not foresee large revenues for Destiny in 2019.
This likely means that a Destiny 3 will not be released in 2019, but not until 2020 at the earliest.
According to the big master plan from Activision for the Destiny brand, a Destiny 3 would have actually been due in September 2019.
The delay of Destiny 3 would not be a problem in itself. Many would welcome it if Bungie took more time with Destiny 3.
However, Activision’s low revenue expectations for Destiny could mean that no major expansion will be released in 2019 – at least none that is expected to generate significant revenue. This could be an indication of a content drought.
Already in 2016, no Destiny 2 was released as initially planned, but the expansion Rise of Iron. The restructuring of the studio and a reboot of Destiny 2 led to the content plan for Destiny collapsing: Between September 2015 and September 2017, only a little content was released for Destiny.
Currently, we know how Destiny 2 will continue to develop until September 2019, but it is unclear how it will proceed from there.
Analysts believe that the separation from Destiny will result in an annual revenue loss of $400 million for Activision Blizzard. Layoffs were announced at the investor conference.
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