Shares of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) fell in aftermarket trading Thursday after the company said it would transfer publishing rights of the futuristic action game Destiny to Bungie, its developer. “Thank you Guardians,” Activision said via tweet.

Activision is a leading worldwide developer, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment for various gaming consoles, handheld platforms, and PC, including blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty®, Crash®, and SpyroTM.

The series is now self-published by Bungie after separating from Activision in 2019. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series.

Also during the call, Johnson said Activision Blizzard wanted to break up with Bungie because the Destiny franchise was failing to meet its commercial projections. "Destiny is highly critically acclaimed, high quality content, but it was not meeting our financial expectations," he said.

It signed a ten-year publishing deal with Activision in April 2010. Their first project was the 2014 first-person shooter, Destiny, which was followed by Destiny 2 in 2017.

Destiny is an open-world role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie that was previously published by Activision and is now self-published by Bungie.

Games publishers give developers the money upfront to make a game. They strike up a deal with a studio (game development company) to make a game according to an agreed brief. The publisher then works closely with the game producer at the studio to make sure the game's being made as agreed, to budget and on time.

Most publishers pay royalties based on the retail price of the book. That means if the book retails at $20, and the royalties rate is 5%, you will earn $1 per book sold. These kinds of royalties are often called “list royalties” or “retail royalties.”

Bungie Destiny is an open-world role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie that was previously published by Activision and is now self-published by Bungie.

In a desperate attempt to save mankind, the Traveler posts itself above Earth, where humans builds the Last City. It then takes a protective measure by sending out "ghosts" to awaken long-dead Warriors that wield light as their greatest weapon, in an attempt to save the Traveler and restore light to the world.

Thanks to these court documents from the Marty O'Donnell lawsuit, we now know that Destiny accrued over $500 million in pre-order and day one sales. Furthermore, the game sold 6.3 million units in its first month on sale, which amounted to additional $47.5 million in revenue.

Lars BakkenJason JonesJacob BentonAlex PfeifferJames TsaiGavin Irby Destiny/Designers