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The details of Bungie’s new game have finally been revealed, and it looks to be a collosal gamble for Activision.
Destiny – what Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg called the "worst-kept secret in the history of secrets"- was first uncovered last year in the legal battle between Activision and its fomer employees Jason West and Vince Zampella.
The project was obviously massive, and GameSpot reports that the game is to be the world’s first "shared-world shooter."
"Very few games transcend their medium and their genre to truly become a part of popular culture; to belong in the time capsule as something that we can all share. And we believe Destiny could become one of those games," said Hirschberg.
Though set in a persistent world and requiring an internet connection, Destiny will not charge a monthly fee to players.
Hirschberg did not elaborate on the game’s business model.
"If you enjoy shooters, Destiny is going to be the best game you’ve ever played," said Bungie cofounder Jason Jones.
"Destiny is Bungie’s next great shooter and is set in an amazing new world that we’re building. In Destiny, players get to build their own characters and grow them over time. We’re really putting players in the center of the world and giving them control over their experience. From the ground up we’ve built this game to be social and cooperative."
Bungie is famous for revolutionizing multiplayer shooters with Halo, and its earlier game Marathon has become a classic.
This project is of another scale entirely and Bungie plans to break the mold, even throwing away traditional menus; a move made by last year’s Journey in an effort to force players to focus on interaction.
"Think about the gym, think about college; imagine those places empty," said Jones.
"That would be crazy; no one would would like that; it would be creepy. But that’s the experience we’ve all had for decades playing these campaign games in a solitary way. That’s not what we want."
There is no official word of when Destiny is to be released, but the court documents that first revealed its existence said it would appear in 2013 on Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s next generation console, with a 2014 PS3 release.
Executives refused to comment on a possible PC release.
