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[Hip Hop]

"Let's take a trip back to 2012, when Activision was embroiled in a nasty legal battle with Call of Duty creators Vince Zampella and Jason West. As part of that court case, Activision had to share details of its original contract with Bungie for Destiny, which was then scheduled for release in 2013. Buried in the public documents is this little nugget:"

Activision shall pay to Licensor a quality bonus (the "Quality Bonus") in the amount of Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000) should Destiny Game #1 achieve a rating of at least 90 as determined by gamerankings.com (or equivalent reputable services if gamerankings.com is no longer in sen/ice) as of thirty (30) days following the commercial release of Destiny Game #1 on Xbox 360.

full article via Kotaku:
http://kotaku.com/destiny-review-sc...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

It should be noted that the contract is from 2010, so it could have changed.

 

[The Lamonster]

I blame the horrid multiplayer announcer.

 

[PhatSaqs]

That's .5% of 500 million aka chump couch seat change.

 

[Haloid1177]

From the looks of it though it won't reach 90 so...

 

[Burt]

Well, at least it isn't like they missed it by one point or one crappy review.

 

[Imouto]

Doesn't this sound familiar?

 

[LurkerPrime]

I would say Bungie's arrogance cost Bungie $2.5 million dollars.

90% overall score is a really tough mark to aim for, as evidenced by the reviews Destiny is receiving.

 

[Data West]

It was a good run, Bungie.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I blame the horrid multiplayer announcer.

Haha!

 

[Sinatar]

That's .5% of 500 million aka chump couch seat change.

How much of that 500 mil is going to Bungie? I'm betting not much.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

How much of that 500 mil is going to Bungie? I'm betting not much.

Bungie owns the IP outright. I am sure they are getting a decent cut.

 

[antitrop]

Well, at least it isn't like they missed it by one point or one crappy review.

Yeah, this is hardly the New Vegas situation all over again.

Bungie doesn't deserve any bonuses. Not even close.

 

[RoboPlato]

90 is the highest I've ever heard for a metascore bonus in any case. Would be tough to hit no matter what.

 

[stryke]

Lol, I brought this up in the review thread (although I incorrectly only looked for metacritic and didn't think there was a clause until someone else pointed it out).

 

[Zombie James]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-fraAN7in4

 

[EvilKatarn]

Doesn't sound like a sum that would hurt Bungie in any meaningful way.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

If Activision can find a way to keep from paying Bungie 2.5M, they will find a way to keep from paying Bungie $2.5M.

We are talking about Activision here.

From the looks of it though it won't reach 90 so...

Maybe Polygon will revise their score now that raids....nope, still not enough.

 

[Effect]

That's .5% of 500 million aka chump couch seat change.

Isn't that largely Activision just making back its investment and possibly just the marketing. That has to happen first before we get into profit.

Edit: Weren't Obsidian Entertainment held to the 90 score as well for Fallout New Vegas?

 

[Lunar15]

Tying bonuses and other monetary rewards to metacritic/gamerankings scores is so absolutely weird to me. I get the idea behind it, and I understand that those two things have a direct impact on scores, but it's just so incredibly subjective.

It's one of those weird situations where I'm kinda disgusted, but I don't have any solutions either.

 

[antitrop]

90 is the highest I've ever heard for a metascore bonus in any case. Would be tough to hit no matter what.

Halo: Reach has a 91, for reference.

ODST still had an 83 and was basically a full-priced expansion pack for Halo 3.

 

[Remachinate]

I hate the wording of the headline. How about "Destiny Design Decisions May Cost Bungie $2.5 Million"?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Doesn't this sound familiar?

But Fallout New Vegas was a good game.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Not quite as harsh as Obsidian being one point off of a substantial Metacritic bonus for Fallout: New Vegas.

 

[MikeE21286]

I blame the horrid multiplayer announcer.

Lol.

He is real bad though

 

[jim2point0]

I'm sure they'll get over the loss of a dime by swimming in their room full of gold.

Spoiler

Ok. Clearly exaggerated. But this game sold a metric fuck ton

Actually, I wonder how this compares to their cut from this game's profits. The game is selling a ton but how much of that goes to the dev?

 

[Give War A Chance]

I think the craziest part of this whole except is that they actually refer to it as "Destiny Game #1."

 

[Bluekaveli]

Microsoft sitting back like, "You'll never be shit without our moneybags."

 

[Morts]

Didn't this game sell around $500 million in the first 24 hours or something like that? It's successful despite reception, so ideally I'd like to see Bungie get rewarded. Unfortunate contract.

 

[flkraven]

Bungie owns the IP outright. I am sure they are getting a decent cut.

I remember reading that the publisher gets like 60% of the profits, and 500 million is not profit. Can't remember the devs cut. It's definitely more than 2.5 million, but 2.5 is not trivial by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[SovanJedi]

Well it's not as bad as that Fallout: New Vegas bonus payout where Obsidian missed the target score aggregate by a single percent and lost the bonus because of it.

EDIT: Arses, beaten.

 

[DNAbro]

I think the craziest part of this whole except is that they actually refer to it as "Destiny Game #1."

in the same contract it leaked Destiny 1,2,3 and 4.

 

[Hip Hop]

I think the craziest part of this whole except is that they actually refer to it as "Destiny Game #1."

Well, there are two more Destiny games coming up. I guess those have a different contract?

That $500 million pays for all of those games, not just the first one.

EDIT: or three more games, as pointed out above my comment.

 

[Euron]

It's amazing how many changes this game has gone through. The original document said it would be a timed Xbox One/360 exclusive in 2013.

 

[antitrop]

Didn't this game sell around $500 million in the first 24 hours or something like that? It's successful despite reception, so ideally I'd like to see Bungie get rewarded. Unfortunate contract.

To retail stores. That $500 million number includes copies of Destiny that are sitting on the shelf at your local Wal-Mart right now as I type.

 

[Kintaro]

After playing the game, I don't believe Bungie deserves a bonus for the quality of the title either.

 

[hagege_s]

I wonder what bonus Naughty Dog had for The Last of Us and Uncharted 2.

 

[RK128]

Well, the game failed to live up to its maximum potential, so the game not getting amazing reviews is quite realistic :l. Also, this is also fully on them and Activision; if they sent out review copies early, then the review scores would have looked much, much different then now (hype mixed with review rush = reviewers skimming over flaws of the game).

Either way, they own the IP and the game sold a ton already, so they should be okay .

 

[Give War A Chance]

in the same contract it leaked Destiny 1,2,3 and 4.

Oh, yeah. I remember that. It's just weird to call the game "Destiny Game #1," though. Maybe I'm weird, I don't know.

 

[Tagg9]

I assumed it would be more. Bungie has already been made handsomely for their work by Activision.

 

[Coxy]

reviews might maybe change day 1 revenue by 0.5% and lifetime by even less than that?

If we ever needed solid proof reviews dont matter

 

[flkraven]

Didn't this game sell around $500 million in the first 24 hours or something like that? It's successful despite reception, so ideally I'd like to see Bungie get rewarded. Unfortunate contract.

It sold 500 million before anyone even really knew what the full game was. With zero review scores. I'd say it is more a product of the marketing (which is the publisher's doing) more than anything else.

 

[JB1981]

I would say Bungie's arrogance cost Bungie $2.5 million dollars.

90% overall score is a really tough mark to aim for, as evidenced by the reviews Destiny is receiving.

Arrogance regarding what exactly?

 

[Moozo]

I blame the horrid multiplayer announcer.

We've lohohost zone 2.5million

 

[monome]

I don't think much people at Bungie were holding up to that money when the game went gold.

it's a good game. ambitious. but if the consensus towards the poor social aspects of the game and the lack of story beats wasn't evident at Bungie prior to release, then...they need a shake-up.

Activision spending money on marketing rather than on a good partnership with MS/Sony to make the game more social is the price of dealing with Kotick.

Activision did what they had to do and will probably recoup all their money on 1 game...whereas Bungie now has to work twice as hard because they have to build content/sequels on still shaky foundations.

 

[Morts]

To retail stores. That $500 million number includes copies of Destiny that are sitting on the shelf at your local Wal-Mart right now as I type.

Sure, but Activision still sold them. Or do they have to buy them back if they sit at Wal-Mart too long?

 

[ZeroMaverick]

So they could have, theoretically, intentionally made the game mediocre to avoid the $2.5 million dollar fee?

 

[Leafhopper]

I think the craziest part of this whole except is that they actually refer to it as "Destiny Game #1."

That document is kinda well known I guess now. 3 more games to go!

 

[QaaQer]

Didn't this game sell around $500 million in the first 24 hours or something like that? It's successful despite reception, so ideally I'd like to see Bungie get rewarded. Unfortunate contract.

sell-in not sell-through.

When I flipped through the contract, the big bonuses happen when activision grosses 500 million and then 1 billion, 25 million are the bonuses iirc.

 

[HariKari]

Sure, but Activision still sold them. Or do they have to buy them back if they sit at Wal-Mart too long?

That's usually negotiated beforehand. I doubt retailers will be returning stock.

So they could have, theoretically, intentionally made the game mediocre to avoid the $2.5 million dollar fee?

We're talking about the company that organized an entire team to dig up dirt on the Call of Duty guys to avoid paying them bonuses.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Isn't that largely Activision just making back its investment and possibly just the marketing. That has to happen first before we get into profit.

Edit: Weren't Obsidian Entertainment held to the 90 score as well for Fallout New Vegas?

Obsidian's game Fallout: New Vegas had a monetary bonus from the publisher for hitting an 85% or higher ranking on Metacritic. (or was it Gamerankings? Whatever.) In the end, FONV hit 84%.