A new report from the New York Times reports on a massive $100 million investment by NetEase in Bungie. However, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick did not like the investment in Destiny 2 developers and spoke out against it.
What is the company’s problem? The Chinese company NetEase and Activision Blizzard had fallen out and went their separate ways in early 2023. This caused Blizzard games to be taken offline in China. The displeasure of the Chinese company was so great that they smashed a Blizzard orc statue short and small.
Despite the time that now elapses between the split, new information is still being released that clarifies why the two companies had grown apart. A New York Times report (via nytimes.com) now talks about why NetEase did not have a good relationship with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.
NetEase wanted to invest in Bungie, but Kotick opposed it
One reason why NetEase didn’t have a good relationship with Bobby Kotick: An unknown case reported by the New York Times was an investment that NetEase made in Bungie. It was about a huge sum of $100 million that NetEase gave to Bungie in 2018. At the time, the developers behind Destiny 2 were still working under Activision’s wing until they also went their separate ways in 2019.
Despite the large sum, Bobby Kotick spoke out against this investment and was dissatisfied with it. According to him, Bungie was already behind schedule with the development of new content for Destiny 2. The money would only further distract the developers.
What is Bungie doing in 2023? The developers also went their separate ways with Activision 2019. Since then, Bungie has struggled through on its own, releasing DLCs and seasons. In early 2022, however, the studio was then bought by Sony for 32 billion euros. The reason was that Bungie can create very powerful and immersive games that have no end. Together with the resources from Sony, they now want to break new ground outside of Destiny 2 and thus bring more titles into the world.
What do you think of Bobby Kotick’s reaction? Do you think it’s unfair and gross that Bungie was treated like this? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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