For the most part, gamer fanboys don’t have much to get excited about when it comes to court documents about third-party company partnerships.
But this case is a little different. Activision and Bungie have firmed up plans to forge a publishing deal together, and as a complete formality they have to submit legal paperwork about the terms of the joint partnership.
And as it happens, that paperwork reveals that a title being referred to as Destiny Games #1 will launch for the Xbox 720 in the fall of 2013.
Another little tidbit is that the game is also listed for Xbox 360, and the companies note that it will be “compatible” with both consoles. Some are speculating that could mean a game could be sold as one packaged product capable of running on either device.
A fourth-quarter 2013 release for the Xbox 720 is essentially what people are expecting at this point. Microsoft has strongly stated it will not reveal the new console at next month’s E3 trade show.
Potentially more interesting in the Activision/Bungie paperwork is the first reference of a PS4 title. A game called Comet #2 has been listed for a launch window of 2016, with “Comet #1” planned for release in 2014 on the PS3.
Obviously these dates are not set in stone, and even if the first Bungie/Activision PS4 game doesn’t hit until 2016, it doesn’t mean the console won’t launch before then.
On the flip side, the joint venture appears to be on the bleeding edge, so it could well be that the PS3 has a couple years left in its life cycle than the Xbox 360 (the Xbox 360 launched a year before the PS3).
