Bungie's 'sci-fantasy, action shooter' Destiny headed to Xbox 360 & 720 in fall 2013

Court documents reveals Bungie's plans for Destiny, Comet and Marathon.

Where does Bungie go after Halo? To Destiny, the developer's next series of games, according to unsealed court documents that outline the studio's ten-year contract with publisher Activision.

Bungie's contract with Activision from April 2010, unsealed as part of the ongoing lawsuit between Activision and former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, outlines the four game plan for Destiny, the game's codename. The first game in the "sci-fantasy, action shooter" series is planned for a release on the Xbox 360 and Microsoft's next-generation Xbox during fall 2013, according to the original agreement, with future entries slated for 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Four downloadable expansion packs for Destiny codenamed "Comet" are to be released during the years between major Destiny games, starting in fall 2014, then continuing in 2016, 2018, and 2020.

The first Destiny game and its "major downloadable content expansion pack" will be made for the Xbox 360 and the "Xbox 720," according to the contract. The option for a release of the first Destiny game on the PlayStation 3 and Sony's next-generation PlayStation is dated for fall 2014.

Bungie's second Destiny game is contracted to "be compatible with the Xbox 360, Xbox 720 and the Sony PlayStation 4," as well as Windows PCs.

The contract describes the Destiny franchise as a "massively-multiplayer-style," detailing the genre as "client based mission structures with persistent elements." The franchise plans to go beyond four games and four add-ons, comprising "a blend of retail packaged goods sales, subscriptions, downloadable content, value-added services and micro-transactions."

In an hour-long video documentary released last year, Bungie employees referred to its post-Halo project by the codename "Tiger," showing what appeared to be quick glimpses of development assets for the mystery title.

Bungie's contract with Activision also notes that the developer is working on a prototype for a new Marathon game, but that the studio cannot dedicate more than 5% of its staff to working on the title.

The contract can be read in full as a PDF at the LA Times web site.

Update: Bungie responds to the unveiling (of sorts) of Destiny via its official web site.

"So, yeah," reads a brief update to Bungie.net. "While we're not ready to show you what we've been working on, we can reconfirm that we are hard at work on our new universe. We can't wait for you to see it.

"See you starside in 2013."