Activision-Bungie Contract Has Rules About Everything, Even Easter Eggs


The ongoing legal saga between Activision and former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vincent Zampella continues to bring all sorts of once-secret documents to light. We already learned that Bungie’s 2010 contract with Activision guarantees the delivery of four “sci-fantasy” shooter games, called Destiny. But what other details are hiding in that 27-page contract?

Over at Develop, they’ve compiled a list of all the details. For example, all Destiny and Comet games were to be designed to aim for a “T” rating, and down the line the series was to aim for the next generation of both Sony and Microsoft consoles (the PS4 and Xbox 720, whatever their true names) as well as PC.

But in among all of the standard “who owns what, when” of the business, budgets and bonuses, a number of other, slightly quirkier terms are outlined in the document as well. For example, the specification about Easter eggs included in any game:

Before commercial release of all games in the contract, Bungie must provide Activision with a list of Easter eggs it has spliced into the game. Activision, following the certification process, must provide Bungie with the same list.

The contract also specifies that “Each Bungie employee will receive two Activision games per year as a gift”, and that Valve, Epic and Gearbox are strictly forbidden from developing any adaptations or conversions of any Destiny or Comet game.

Added to executive equity language clearly designed in the wake of the West and Zampella departure, the contract shows that Activision may have been excited about publishing a decade’s worth of Bungie’s games — but not so excited that they wanted to risk getting burned.

Revealed: The huge promises and secret stipulations of the Bungie Activision deal [Develop Online]

Top photo: Shutterstock


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