Bungie have formally announced their new project, Destiny, after nearly two years of rumors and leaks. Yesterday, Bungie finally revealed what they’ve been working on and gave everyone lots of information on what to expect from a project that will span ‘the next ten years‘.
Destiny is part of a 10 year contract deal with Activision and is a persistent-world constantly online first person shooter where players can customize and change their character and take on missions cooperatively throughout the solar system.
Bungie has heavily emphasized the cooperative element of Destiny, you will be able to play the game alone but the constant online connection means that the game is designed to take on missions together with other ‘guardians’. According to Bungie this is to “realize the vision of the game” where the world can change based on what the players have succeeded and failed at.
Fortunately Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg says that there are “absolutely no plans to charge a subscription fee,” which is good news. As the game is always online, much like an MMO, Bungie can match players together who are within proximity of each other, much the the instanting of zones in games like Guild Wars 2, but more specific.
This means that when players go into safe areas such as towns they will see other real players from their area walking around, however don’t expect thousands of people in one area, Bungie COO Pete parsons has said “[The] amount of players you see is design controlled, it’s not about stuffing as many people in there as possible.”
Bungie also plan to extend the Destiny experience to mobile devices, the video teases a mobile app which can track game statistics and enable the player to send invites to other players to plan raids for later that day.
There will be no cross-platform play between the PS3 and the 360 and Bungie have repeatedly referred to Destiny as a ‘console shooter’ so it’s unlikely that the game will be coming to PC, however COO Pete Parsons did mention he wants Destiny “wherever gamers are” so maybe future Destiny games will be coming to the computer.
Here is Bungie’s official description of Destiny:
“Everything changed with the arrival of the Traveler. It sparked a Golden Age when our civilization spanned our solar system, but it didn’t last. Something hit us, knocked us down. The survivors built a city beneath the Traveler, and have begun to explore our old worlds, only to find them filled with deadly foes.
You are a Guardian of the last safe city on Earth, able to wield incredible power. Defend the City. Defeat our enemies. Reclaim all that we have lost.”
- The next evolution of entertainment – an incredible story set within a newly-imagined, always-connected universe filled with action and adventure.
- Create your character, forge your legend by defeating powerful foes, and earn unique and customized weapons, gear and vehicles.
- Unprecedented variety of FPS gameplay that redefines the genre breaks traditional conventions of story, cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, combined with public and social activities.
So far Activision and Bungie have officially announced Destiny for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but with Sony and Microsoft poised to announce their next generation of console the game might see a release on both current and next gen systems.
