Bungie, the developer behind the Halo franchise has announced they have signed an exclusive 10 year pact with Activision that will bring the developer’s “next big action game universe to market.”
For the next decade Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute future Bungie games “based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices.”
Financials of the deal were not disclosed.
Bungie formally had an exclusive partnership with Microsoft, but the two split in 2007.
“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” adds Bungie President Harold Ryan. “From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”
The Halo franchise has so far brought in $1.5 billion in revenue, and Bungie has sold over 25 million units worldwide.
“Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,” says Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”
Result for: blizzard
The developer Valve has sued Activision Blizzard over unpaid royalties this month, claiming the company underpaid them by over $400,000 USD.
The dispute started in 2002 with a copyright infringement claim by Valve against Sierra Entertainment, who was purchased by Activision in 2004. In 2005, Sierra agreed to “stop generating cyber cafe licenses to players of Valve games, including Counter-Strike.” At the same point, both companies agreed that an outside auditor would determine the amount of royalties owed to Valve.
As explained by Gamasutra, “that judgment was not made until this month. On April 6, the arbitrator declared Activision (formerly Sierra) to owe Valve a total sum, including interest, of $2,391,932.
On April 7, referring back to a claim first made March 3, Activision declared Valve to have been previously overpaid $424,136 in royalties, and said it would subtract that amount from its ordered payment. Thus, Activision cut a check for $1,967,796 — the court-ordered amount minus the alleged overpayment.
But Valve says Activision never raised its overpayment allegation with the arbitrator, and the two companies already had a longstanding agreement to recognize the arbitrator’s judgment. Furthermore, Activision has already threatened to sue Valve to recover that $424,136 if Valve seeks to confirm the $2,391,932 order.”
Result for: blizzard
Marking the first time their music will ever be available legally online digitally, The Beatles and MTV are expected to announce a deal tomorrow that will allow for the use of the band’s music in the hit game ‘Rock Band 2′.
Viacom, MTV’s parent, and The Beatles have been in negotiations for months and Viacom has issued media invitations to a “a global music project” teleconference tomorrow when the deal is expected to be announced.
The Wall Street Journal has cited “people familiar with the matter” in saying that the teleconference is absolutely about the Beatles music being licensed for Rock Band.
The Beatles have never licensed their music for digital distribution online and if the report is true, this deal would be a huge win for Rock Band which is in hot competition with Activision Blizzard’s Guitar Hero series.
