Bungie’s new IP may have some sort of free-to-play component or business model according to a newly surfaced job listing.
As The Game Posts (opens in new tab) spotted, the studio is hiring for a senior marketing manager (opens in new tab) on its currently unannounced new IP. Under the “nice-to-have skills” section for this listing, Bungie mentions “experience with enterprise scale live operations, games as a service, MMO, F2P, and mobile” as well as “knowledge of the PC and console gaming space” and general familiarity with Bungie’s community.
As is always the case with listings like this, we can only glean so much from keywords and estimated job responsibilities, so let’s not assume that Bungie’s new IP is a free-to-play mobile MMO based on this blurb alone. It’d be one thing if Bungie’s job opportunities were filled with mentions of these elements, but trace mentions don’t exactly nail down what kind of game this new IP is going to be. The mobile mention could be related to another mobile companion app like the one for Destiny 2, for instance.
That said, a few things about this listing stand out. Firstly, it’s the only one that’s specifically tied to a “new IP” rather than a more general “incubation” project, but that could easily be a terminology thing. More interestingly, it’s also the only listing that I could find that mentions the F2P genre by name. A modified version of the same skills blurb appears in listings for a contract senior communications manager (opens in new tab) for the APAC region and an editorial manager for internal communications (opens in new tab), but with F2P missing from the list.
Relatedly, while comparing these job descriptions, I happened to spot mention of “live updates to a successful PvP game” under another listing (opens in new tab) for Bungie’s incubation project. This puts a finer point on details from a previous listing which specified a new “multiplayer action game.”
We’ve known that Bungie’s working on something new for over a year, with job listings hinting at a “comedic” IP as early as January 2020. Earlier this year, design director Jacob Benton hinted at a “new secret world” which will run “parallel with Destiny” by 2025. This fit with 2019 comments from studio CEO Pete Parsons, who said Bungie would launch new franchises by 2025.
The next chapter of Destiny 2 will be revealed at Bungie’s August 24 showcase.