Bungie's New Project is ''Destiny''; PC Probable

Activision officially announced Bungie's mystery MMO, Destiny.

On Monday Activision finally revealed Bungie's mystery project called Destiny. It's an "ambitious evolution" of the first-person action genre that brings gamers together in a shared, persistent virtual world. The company didn't officially state that it was coming to the PC, only that it's slated for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and future consoles. But Bungie hasn't ruled the PC platform out.

"The interesting part is we, from the ground up, from the very beginning, we have made sure that [Destiny] can be on multiple platforms," said Bungie COO Pete Parsons. "It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to design and actually architect for it, which we’ve absolutely done."

Parsons also said that Bungie would love to see the new game on PC. "If you talk to the people upstairs, we play it on all platforms. So, stay tuned," he added.

Bungie said the game has a social element by offering players a connected, living world they can explore. There are also "vibrant" social spaces where they can congregate to celebrate achievements, talk about their adventures, or whatever else people do in virtual social hangouts in space.

In Destiny, players step into the distant future and serve as Guardians of the last city on Earth. Wielding incredible power, they fight off humanity's enemies and struggle to reclaim what was lost during the collapse of mankind's Golden Age. The Destiny saga will unfold over the next 10 years through "grand tales and sweeping adventures" consisting of cooperative, competitive, public and social activities.

According to the back story, man inhabited the entire solar system during the Golden Age. But something utterly cataclysmic happened, leaving very little of humanity left. Now the survivors owe their spared lives to the mysterious "Traveler" who sacrificed its own life to save theirs. Its mysterious sphere still hovers low over the Earth where it made its last stand, seemingly keeping silent watch over Earth's remaining children.

"Destiny is the game that we've been dreaming of building for years.  We couldn't be more pleased about our extraordinary collaboration with Activision.  We finally have the right partner, team and technology to bring the experience to millions of players worldwide," said Harold Ryan, Bungie president.  "Destiny will draw players into a world filled with mystery, action, and adventure, but most importantly, Destiny is more than a disc in a drive, it is a living social universe filled with other players."

As for an actual release date, there was no indication that it will arrive in 2013. Even more, in Activision's most recent financial report, the company's guidance for the anticipated amount of money it expects to earn in 2013 did not include Destiny. Given that Bungie signed a contract with Activision in 2010, there's a good chance we won't see this game for quite a while.

Despite the persistent online world, the contract between Bungie and Activision reveals a 10-year commitment to produce a number of Destiny games. Given the target platform is the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, taking a Guild Wars 2 route seems out of the question. Or they could release one MMO and several stand-alone spinoffs. Either way, smartphones and tablets will be involved so that the gamer is never completely detached from the virtual realm.

"We can't comment on any platforms that might be forthcoming, but what we can say is we are building Destiny to be wherever gamers are," said Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg.

Yeah? Well gamers are on PC, so cough a version of Destiny for them too. For more information about Destiny, head over to the official site.

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