Bungie's Destiny detailed in leaked document, official art

The next game from the creators of Halo may have just been revealed in a substantial leak of concept art and game details. According to a report from IGN, details on Bungie's "sci-fantasy, action shooter" Destiny, including its plot and visual design, have been revealed from a leaked advertising document.

In response to the published images, Bungie posted concept art on its website that matches the artwork purportedly from Destiny, writing "Go ahead. Take a peek. It's alright. We weren't quite ready, but we will be soon, and we can't wait to finally show you what we've really been up to."

Destiny is described as a "fun and accessible" shooter designed to be as "deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise," according to IGN's report. The game is pitched as "social at its core," possibly lending credence to rumors that the game draws influence from massively multiplayer online games.

The marketing document created by an outside advertising firm — a fact that Bungie confirmed to IGN — contains an extensive plot background.

"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."

The document also pegs Destiny for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Bungie's work on Destiny was revealed earlier this year in court documents related to the Activision v. West and Zampella lawsuit. Details from Bungie's 10-year contract with publisher Activision revealed that the developer was working on four games in the Destiny franchise, with the first due to be released on Xbox 360 and Microsoft's next-generation console in 2013.

Future Destiny games are slated to come to PlayStation 4 and Windows PC, the contract revealed.

Bungie responded to the leak of its contract with Activision at the time by saying "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."

For an extensive look at what Destiny may ultimately look like, check out a dozen images at IGN.