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Activision’s ongoing court battle with former Infinity Ward developers Jason West and Vince Zampella has taken a surprising turn, as the publisher’s high-profile 2010 deal with Bungie has suddenly been laid bare.
The LA Times has brought to light a 27-page contract with Bungie; a ten-year agreement that has the former Halo developer tasked with creating four ‘sci-fantasy, action shooter games’ for a project code-named ‘Destiny.’
Bungie filed trademarks for the term in 2011.
According to the document, the first of the four titles will be a timed Xbox exclusive due in Fall of 2013, with versions hitting other platforms in 2014. The rest of the titles are slated for the successors of Sony and Microsoft’s current consoles as well as PC in 2015, 2017, and 2019.
On top of that, four corresponding DLC expansions code-named ‘Comet’ are part of the deal. Those are due out in Fall 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.
The contract also points out that Bungie will be rewarded with $2.5m if its first game published by Activision receives a Metacritic score of 90 or higher. MCV sister site Develop notes that the bonus appears to be the largest of its kind on record.
