The announcement comes years after the two companies first partnered up, and months after Bungie enacted mass layoffs.
NetEase and Bungie have announced Destiny: Rising, a free to play mobile shooter set in the Destiny universe. Officially licensed by Bungie, Rising will offer both first and third person gunplay, playable either via touchscreen or with a controller.
Rising is the first visible result of 2018's $100 million dollar partnership between Bungie and NetEase. NetEase has revealed a gameplay trailer for Rising, showing off an impressively-detailed (if familiar) take on the Destiny experience.
Rising also marks the first free to play mobile game that Sony will profit from, following Sony's acquisition of Bungie in 2022. In the wake of the cancellation of Concord and The Last of Us Online, Sony has had little luck with live service titles in recent years.
"With Destiny: Rising, NetEase Games is honored to partner with Bungie to deliver a Destiny-caliber experience to mobile devices," said Ethan Wang, Senior Vice President, NetEase, Inc. "Destiny is an incredible franchise with a passionate and dedicated global fanbase. As huge fans ourselves, we are humbled and thrilled for the opportunity to bring gamers an action-packed RPG shooter set within the Destiny Universe."
NetEase promises that Rising will feature "familiar faces from Destiny" alongside "a host of new, intriguing characters." In a nod to hero shooters, Destiny: Rising will allow players to take on the role of named characters, departure from the existing games' create a character approach on PC and console. Rising will feature both single player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer gameplay, including “game modes familiar to Destiny players” alongside all-new modes.
The news comes two years after Bungie filed a patent for touchscreen controls on mobile devices, leading to speculation that NetEase may then be creating a Destiny spin off.
"For over a decade, we have built this universe to contain many unique and wonderful stories, and we are excited to see mobile gamers be able to experience this new take on the Destiny universe from the creative team at NetEase," said Terry Redfield, Creative Lead at Bungie.
This deal follows a difficult year for Bungie, in which one if its veteran developers was accused of misconduct and the studio laid off 220 people.
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