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Bungie's Destiny coming in 2013, features microtransactions and subscriptions
Bungie's long-rumored MMO project has been outed by the Los Angeles Times in its coverage of a games industry lawsuit. According to the article, the company is developing a new IP called Destiny consisting primarily of sci-fi first-person shooter titles, the first of which will launch in 2013 on the Xbox 360. The title will be sold at retail but will also feature DLC, microtransactions, and subscriptions. But is it an MMO? That's still to be determined; the company hasn't released details. Eurogamer has put together a piece summarizing various Bungie comments on the Destiny series, including hints at persistence and a long-term commitment from both fans and developers. "I can't get into specifics, but we're definitely looking at building a universe that people want to spend time in," community director Brian Jarrard said in April of 2010. Bungie's Joseph Staten also commented on the IP at GDC 2010. "Wouldn't it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you," he said.
Bungie building a new engine for Activision project
Like the Halo series before it, Bungie is working on its own, brand new game engine for use in its forthcoming Activision project. "Just like we don't want to develop a game off someone else's IP, we want to push our own technology in the same way. That's going to be our position for the forseeable future," Bungie's Brian Jarrard told Develop in a recent interview. Furthermore, that new engine is already being worked on, though it's still in the early stages. "Yeah, [the new engine is] actually in development, so I would say it's in a stage where, technically we're still at the end of a pre-production mode," Jarrard explained. He did admit that, "now that Reach is done the full weight of our team is rolling into the project," adding, "Real work is underway." We're excited to hear more about Bungie's next project, but for now, we've got an inevitable glassing to face.
Halo: Reach 'Forge World' and Firefight Versus mode introduced at Comic-Con Bungie panel
Last night at Bungie's Comic-Con panel, the studio went "beyond the canyon" and revealed what's behind the hill in the Blood Gulch remake: "The rest of the map." Turns out this version of Blood Gulch, which will be known as "Hemorrhage" in Halo: Reach, is actually one part of a gigantic five-part map called "Forge World" -- there's an island in the back bay, an outcropping called "The Rock," a hangar built into the cliff overlooking the bay dubbed "The Colisseum," and an open field area up above. The entire map starts out blank, and players will be invited to build their own levels in it using Reach's revamped Forge editor mode. "Forge World is the evolution of what we've been through with Forge," Bungie Community Lead Brian Jarrard told Joystiq at a Microsoft event following the panel. "How do we expand on it even further, and give people even more flexibility, and more toys to work with?" The answer: by combining very detailed and customizable tools with a variety of variables used in whatever ways players see fit, according to Jarrard. The Forge editor can now apply different physical models to pieces inserted on the map, leaving them fixed in mid-air or even half-embedded in other pieces. Additionally, spawn points can now be easily colored according to team, teleporters can be dropped at will and even customized for vehicles, and gigantic structures (like a multi-level tower) can be summoned and placed just about anywhere. %Gallery-96257%
Bungie considered a 'Halo 4' before proceeding with Reach
Before Bungie started work on creating a game based on the planet-glassing excitement that is the fall of Reach, discussions at the studio momentarily went in the direction of a Master Chief resurrection tale -- a direct continuation of the Halo trilogy's story as "Halo 4." Bungie community man Brian Jarrard told the MTV Multiplayer blog as much in a recent interview, saying, "Even before the idea to build a game based around Reach came about, a lot of other concepts were explored, up to and including a proper 'Halo 4,' where Master Chief was going to wake up from cryo-sleep and we were going to tell that story." So he is in cryo-sleep and not dead?! ... Ahem, please excuse us. Jarrard continues, adding that while Reach is a prequel to the first Halo title, it's not meant just for hardcore fans of the trilogy. "We don't want to open up a whole bunch of doors that we're not going to close. By the end of this, it's all going to come to a nice, neat finish, and if people want to then go play the Halo trilogy, I think they'll have a better understanding of what's going on, but it's not required at all." He also confirms that the Chief is nowhere to be found in Reach (though, canonically speaking, the Chief is on the planet during the game's timeline), which just about breaks our fragile space heart into a million pieces.
Halo: Reach beta extended to Thursday, May 20
We'll keep this quick: Bungie's Brian Jarrard has just informed Joystiq, "Our official plans as of now are to turn off the Reach beta on Thursday, 5/20 at 10AM PDT." Previously, the beta was scheduled to end tomorrow, May 19, at an unspecified time. That's what we call a reprieve! Get back into the fight, folks. %Gallery-91245%
Interview: Bungie discusses Activision, its 'new universe,' and what happens to Reach
If it seems like all you've read about today is Bungie, well ... that's probably not far from the truth. Whether it's information about the highly anticipated Halo Reach beta – whose early "friends and family" access began today (giveaway here!) – to some unique Halo Reach swag to the news that the now independent developer has partnered with headline hogger Activision, it's Bungie's world today. We spoke with Bungie's Brian Jarrard and Joseph Staten about everything from their choice of Activision, to their plans to support Reach post-release, to their transmedia plans for this "new universe" they keep talking about. Read on for the entire interview! Joystiq: What would you tell fans that worry about Activision's annualized business model and how that might affect the culture at Bungie? Brian Jarrard: The great news is that whatever business model Activision might have internally or applied to their first-party studios or their other properties isn't really relevant to our partnership and our plans for what we're going to do with our next, big universe. We have a specific deal that really allows Bungie to focus on what's most important to us which is remaining an independent company and owning our new IP and having creative control to really execute our vision of how we want this universe to play out over the next 10 years. We already have those plans pencilled in; we've already gone through a schedule with real dates and, sort of, real stuff with Activision at the outset of these discussions and we both have a plan that we agree on and that's exactly what Bungie's vision is for our next big universe. Did you guys seriously consider relationships with any other publishers before signing on with Activision? Joseph Staten: Sure, absolutely. We've been in negotiations with Activision for about nine months but we've certainly been planning for this conversation since we spun out from Microsoft in 2007. Over the years, I guess, we really talked to ... imagine any major publisher that you can think of and we've probably talked to them over the years. Activision, at the end of the day, was far and away the best deal.
Halo: Reach 'Invasion' mode unveiled on latest GTTV
Aha! That's why no one's talking about it! The first video and details on Halo: Reach's "Invasion" mode were shown off exclusively in last night's episode of GameTrailers TV, with Bungie additionally dishing some deets about the game we'd yet to hear. As we already know, Invasion is a game mode that's only available in Boneyard (also scantly detailed until now) and, as promised, features a ton of vehicles. The multi-tiered level unlocks in "three phases (similar to Bad Company 2's "Rush" mode), with various weapon loadouts and vehicles becoming available alongside it. Among the smattering of new footage, Bungie reps introduce the human grenade launcher and plasma launcher, two exciting looking additions to the Halo arsenal. Unfortunately, when pressed on whether or not ODST's Firefight mode would be making a return appearance in Reach, Bungie's Chris Carney says that the mode "is not in the beta" and he's "not sure what those guys have planned." As you might expect, there's also a tease that we'll hear more about the game (campaign mode specifically) "in June."
Pour one out for Halo 2 and the original Xbox with Bungie on April 14
The plasma party may be almost over for those of you still gripping tight to your Xbox 1 and copy of Halo 2, playing game after desperate game before Microsoft shuts the online servers, but Bungie is looking for fans to join staff members in a last hurrah on April 14. Community manager Brian "Sketch" Jarrard proclaims on Bungie.net that, "We're all saddened at the realization that an era is coming to an end," before asking fans to "mark your calendars now - on April 14th let's all rally to go online for one last hoorah." And sure, he might not explicitly mention the emptying of various malt beverages from 40 ounce glass bottles, but that's why we read between the lines. It's right there, people!
Bungie explains 'series of stumbles' in ODST marketing
From the initial talk of a lower price to a renaming, Bungie's ever-changing plans for Halo 3: ODST left a lot of people confused as to what the final product would be. "I'm no PR expert, but it's pretty obvious the game had a series of stumbles; from the naming, to the initial E3 2008 countdown reveal failure, and finally pricing ... it would definitely be nice to have a do-over for the game introduction," senior designer Lars Bakken told G4TV in a recent interview. "The big takeaway for us is just to never comment on matters that are outside of our control," added community manager Brian Jarrard. The subject of ODST becoming an "expansion pack," however, was never an arguable point to executive producer Curtis Creamer. "Though ODST was built from the Halo 3 engine, there were enough changes made to the engine that we could not have released it as an expansion in the way that you might equate with a PC game expansion pack ... the ODST executable is not compatible with Halo 3." The crew of Bungie devs also reconfirmed that "there are currently no plans for any ODST DLC," with all of the studio's resources tied up with Halo: Reach. Hopefully, our thirst for more Firefight maps will be quenched by the inclusion of the mode in future Halo games -- a prospect to which the developers responded, "Only time will tell." Do it for us, Bungie! Please? %Gallery-72961%
'If people love it,' Halo's Firefight mode could be added to Reach
Halo 3: ODST's survival horde Firefight Mode is probably the most notable addition to the upcoming Halo 3 expansion from Bungie Studios. With Halo: Reach headed to consoles next Fall, the developer had left the possibility of the new mode's inclusion in that project up in the air ... at least until now. Speaking with Eurogamer at PAX 2009, Bungie community manager Brian Jarrard said Firefight could very well make it into Halo: Reach -- "if people love it," that is."I don't think we've ever been known to really take things away from each successive release, so I think it's safe to say that if Firefight gets a lot of traction and people love it, it probably has a good future home in our next title as well," Jarrard said. Shh! Nobody bring up the battle rifle!%Gallery-64703%
Joystiq interview: Bungie's Jarrard talks Halo 3: Recon, new weapons, details
Recently, Bungie Studios community director Brian Jarrard - better known to Halo fans as "Sketch" - took some time to clear up a few lingering questions about Halo 3: Recon and Halo 3's upcoming Mythic Map Pack as well as some general Bungie topics. From our informal chat, we learn that Halo 3: Recon will stay relatively true to Halo 3's formula, meaning that we won't be seeing any game engine improvements or added features. But Jarrard did confirm that (at minimum) one new weapon will make an appearance in Recon and a new soundtrack will debut. We also touch on the topic of Recon's Forge, learning what it is not and discuss why Bungie chose to not make it as feature-rich as a map editor like, say, what Far Cry 2 has to offer. There's Vidmaster achievement and Mythic Map Pack talk as well and the conversation somehow leads to the topic of global domination and pie. %Gallery-34046%
Bungie considers the challenges of a Halo MMO
Bungie community and PR director Brian Jarrard recently told gamesindustry.biz that a Halo MMO has been the subject of "heated discussions" at the house that built Master Chief. Jarrard opines on the topic for a while, concluding that a lot of new lore and characters on top of the already-extensive universe that is Halo for a workable MMO.That point of view rings quite true with us here at Massively. Typically, any time a non-MMO property is tapped for entry into the genre there are mountains of conceptual alterations that need to be made -- not to mention the catch 22 Jedi concession. You can't have a compelling Star Wars MMO without Jedi, however there needs to be some serious lore considerations if a developer is to allow hundreds of players run around their game world as laser-sword swinging, neo-space faring, monk/samurai. The same rule applies to the rare and elite Spartan warriors of the Halo universe.
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PAX 2008: Halo Mythic ain't mythical, it's here... sort of
Is this what Microsoft was not so quietly sweeping under the carpet when they nixed the Bungie announcement during their E3 keynote? We have no clue as of yet, and all we can get out of Bungie is a "we can't talk about it." We're going to try and batter down Bungie's doors today to get more info.So far, here's what we know. The menu screen says System Version 1.2, when the Halo 3 retail version is only at 1.1, and there's only a multiplayer option, no campaign. What does it all mean? We caught up with Bungie's Brian Jarrard who told us the screen was from a build that they brought on Friday that "wasn't really meant to be seen. However, it's really not that exciting, it's gotten kind of blown out of proportion."While the shakey-cam photo above from Addict Gaming might be the only visual evidence of Mythic, it's definitely coming. At some point. Bungie wasn't forthcoming with details, but we'll see what we can find out.[Thanks, Robert]
Bungie reemphasizes community content support
IGN recently got a chance to chat it up with Bungie's community man Brian Jarrard where he talks about the future of Halo 3, its community and again lands on the subject of community content. And again we get a warm fuzzy feeling when discussing said content, because Jarrard (just like he told Eurogamer) reemphasized that Bungie feels community created content is where Halo 3 is headed and they plan on supporting it. Jarrard tells IGN that "user-generated content and a focus on the social and community aspects of our games is definitely part of our future as well as our past" and that Bungie is "actively working on website improvements and ways to integrate user created content outside of the game". Suh-weet!Like we said, Jarrard has previously mentioned Bungie's commitment to rolling out a new way to search for Halo 3 community content, but hearing it again makes us feel more secure in this knowledge. We say, bring on the Halo 3 upgrades now!
