Bungie's Destiny "social", "designed for your inner 7yo"
Leaked design documents show Halo developer Bungie taking a more accessible approach with its new property, Destiny.
According to documents received by IGN, and apparently verified by Bungie itself, co-founder co-founder Jason Jones described the game as appealing to the kid in all of us.
“Destiny is designed for your inner seven year old. We want to make it feel like a mythic adventure," he said.
The documents, apparently created by an advertising agency and granting a third-party perspective on the project, said the multi-game series will be "fun and accessible to all” with "a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise".
“Our story begins seven hundred years from now in the Last City on Earth, in a Solar System littered with the ruins of man’s Golden Age. A massive, mysterious alien ship hangs overhead like a second Moon. No one knows where it came from or what it’s here for, but only that it’s our protector. Meanwhile, strange, alien monsters creep in from the edge of the universe, determined to take Earth and the Last City. We are young ‘knights’ tasked with defending the remains of humanity, discovering the source of these monsters and – eventually – overcoming it.”
Other tidbits from the documents reveal that the ship is called the Traveler, and the gameplay is said to be “social at its core,” set in “a world to explore with friends, both old and new".
Responding to the leak, Bungie has updated its website with a response, offering one piece of concept art which you can check out below; IGN has several more through the link above.
Given the project's expected launch next year and the timing of the leak, destiny is now a pretty hot ticket for a Spike VGAs reveal; this mysterious tweet from host Geoff Keighley following right on its heels certainly seems auspicious. The VGAs are a favourite target for major reveals and this year are scheduled to take place on December 7.
What is Destiny?
Bungie parted ways with Microsoft and Halo in 2010, signing a ten-year contract with Activision Blizzard. The name Destiny first turned up linked to a rumour that the developer's next project was "WoW in space" and appeared confirmed when a trademark was linked back to Bungie.
Details of the contract between the two companies emerged this year, with Bungie apparently confirming a 2013 release for the first product of the union. Other details of the contract - which may be outdated - suggest a four-title series of action shooters code named Destiny, along with four expansion packs, code-named Comet. Destiny and Comet releases would occur on alternate years.
Apart from that, all we know of the project is that Paul McCartney is possibly involved with the music; it will contain sandbox elements; and is rumoured to be "quite like Halo" by someone who referenced the ancient codename Tiger.
