Bungie, the creators of the Destiny and Halo franchises, has received a $100 million investment from massive Chinese online gaming company NetEase, according to a report by GamesIndustry. The developer plans to use the money to create new games that it will self-publish.
This partnership means multiple things for Bungie. First, it means that the Destiny series will now come to China for the first time. Additionally, it means that Bungie will be able to work on multiple franchises at once in a long-term goal to become “an entertainment company that sustains many worlds simultaneously.”
“This new partnership will enable us to accelerate our global vision, while building new teams dedicated to delivering brand-new experiences,” said Bungie CEO Pete Parsons. “NetEase creates and operates some of the most popular games on the planet. We’re excited for them to bring their experience as we enter this new chapter in Bungie’s history. With NetEase’s industry expertise and international reach, our partnership will help us realize our shared goal of reaching players around the globe.”
Parsons told the Wall Street Journal that Bungie plans on being a developer that will self-publish its games in the future, without having to rely on a company like Activision, which published Destiny 2.
“We’ll decide the business model and how the worlds we create go into the market,” Parsons said.
As far as Destiny is concerned, though, Bungie promised that this partnership won’t impact the series moving forward, and that the relationship with Activision will continue.
“If you’re a player of Destiny, this news won’t impact the hobby you’ve come to know,” Bungie said. “Destiny is an experience that will grow for many years to come. We’ll continue to work with our partners at Activision to foster this global community and turn new players from all over the world into Guardians. Our commitment to that world is not diminished by this announcement. We have exciting plans for the future of the Destiny franchise, and you’ll learn more about the next steps we’ll take together in the weeks to come.”
NetEase’s investment gets the company a minority stake in Bungie. NetEase already has a regional partnership in China with Activision Blizzard to operate games like Overwatch and Hearthstone.
Destiny 2’s next expansion is set to be revealed next week and released some time next fall. Beyond that, it looks like Bungie will be expanding into something new entirely in the coming years.
