Halo creator and Destiny developer Bungie has spoken about its relationship with the US space agency saying "We don't speak to NASA, they speak to us."
As part of the latest Mail Sack feature on Bungie's website the studio commented "We don't speak to NASA, they speak to us. We're pretty starstruck, and they continue to be a constant source of inspiration for us."
Dr. Craig Hardgrove, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a self-proclaimed gamer, visitied Bungie in January shortly before Destiny's official reveal. Notably, one of Hardgrove's favourite games is Halo.
Hardgrove has worked with NASA since 2004 and was involved in the Mars Exploration Rover projects Spirit and Opportunity. This weekend he Tweeted:
@bungie Just saw the mailsack. Here's 1/2 of your wish @mehvechannasa.gov/multimedia/ima…
— Craig (@hardgrove) May 12, 2013
It's not immediately clear what the extent of Bungie's relationship with NASA might be or if it's only Hardgrove who is involved in Destiny's development. It's also not clear what the other half of Bungie's wish is. The link Hardgrove posted takes you to an image of a Martian sunset.
Aside from Earth Destiny will also visit the Moon, Venus and the Red Planet. Last week Bungie revealed new details about the game world as well as the classes within Destiny.
Destiny is due to be released in 2014 for current and next-gen consoles and is to be published by Activision. The PS3 and PS4 versions of the game will come with exclusive content, Destiny is the first Bungie game specifically developed for Sony's platforms. Oni, Bungie West's only game, was ported by Rockstar Toronto to PS2 in 2001.
The game will require an Internet connection and Bungie has expressed confidence that they will be able to sustain their servers once Destiny launches.
Source: GameSpot.