Bungie is already busy at work with the ongoing support of Destiny 2 and the upcoming reboot of Marathon, but if a new report is accurate, the studio’s third new IP may not be as far away as some players believe. The third IP, known only as Matter after a 2018 trademark filing, has received little attention in 2023 as the studio concentrates on its two established titles.
This new information does not originate directly from Bungie, but rather from the ongoing legal dispute surrounding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Titan returns to the Sol System in Destiny 2’s current season, Season of the Deep, following its disappearance at the launch of the Beyond Light expansion in 2020.
The Guardians have been dispatched to the moon at the request of Deputy Commander Sloane, who is requesting assistance in protecting a creature that resides beneath the methane waves and may possess important information about The Witness. However, the Hive god Xivu Arath is making her presence in the system known more directly as her soldiers attempt to thwart Sloane’s ambitions for the creature.
Do you know that the team behind Skyblivion has provided an update explaining the present status of production and the way ahead, giving players a better idea of when the gigantic fan project may be expected? The project began in 2012, approximately a year after Skyrim’s release, and the team behind it has published information and gameplay footage about the massive Skyrim mod on a periodic basis:
Despite the need for near-constant support for Destiny 2 and the development of the new Marathon, new documents from Microsoft’s FTC hearings indicate that Matter could be released in 2025. The hearing documents contain an evaluation of Bungie conducted by Microsoft in 2021, detailing some of the studio’s expansion and game support plans at the time.
It describes how the studio “has more than doubled its headquarters space” and was planning to establish its first international office in Amsterdam in 2022, with the latter focusing on Destiny 2 support and the development of Matter.
Microsoft’s internal assessment is consistent with additional reports that the tech behemoth was interested in acquiring Bungie and Sega in 2020. At that time, it was known that the studio was developing a new IP, Matter, and had received a $100 million investment from the Chinese technology company NetEase for the new project. Following this announcement, updates became scarce, though it has been verified that the Marathon reboot is an entirely separate project from the third IP.
Since the time of the evaluation, Bungie’s business has undergone significant adjustments, as the studio is no longer independent. In July 2022, Sony acquired the studio for approximately $3.6 billion, joining a roster of first-party studios that includes Sucker Punch and Insomniac.
It remains to be seen if the 2025 release window projected in the 2021 evaluation is still accurate, or if the new IP will be released later than anticipated. Destiny 2 is presently accessible on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox One X/S.