Bungie has recently published new patents suggesting that the company may be planning a future Destiny game for mobile.
The patents aren’t too different from what you would see in many modern 3D action games on mobile. A virtual d-pad is positioned for the left hand, while set of virtual buttons is positioned for the right hand. The patents also discuss how the technology works for these inputs to be processed in the cloud.
Notably, the patents depicted do not include a virtual analog stick for either the left or the right. In many shooter games, the left analog stick may determine what direction your character is moving, while the right analog stick would allow you to orient your character, to be looking straight or turning directions, to be able to move to a certain position faster. Of course, these patents may not indicate the final controls for the potential game, but it was worth pointing out.
Destiny does have a mobile app now. This is a companion app that allows you to manage some settings and features in the game while you are away from playing. Rumors for a mobile Destiny game have been around since 2021, however, most recently it was stated that Chinese developer NetEase was Bungie’s partner for the mobile game. Bungie is apparently even working on a new game engine for this mobile game.
Given the examples of Bungie’s peers, there are several potential directions where they could take a prospective Destiny game. Their old owner Activision decided to have an outside company make a Call of Duty online shooter, that sought to replicate the console experience of Call of Duty as best as possible. In contrast, Bethesda Game Softworks decided to take Fallout Shelter in a completely different direction, making a more casual friendly construction and management game, but setting it in the same Fallout universe. And then, there are games like Injustice Gods Among Us Mobile (a collectible card game) and Metal Slug Tactics (a tactical roguelike), which resemble their console counterparts but are actually completely different games. Arguably these games can be said to be misleading, but it can also be said they expand the universe of these game worlds.
However, it is also possible that Bungie is making a completely original project for mobile, that has nothing to do with Destiny at all. As I had noted above, the patents don’t actually show what is expected for a mobile shooter like one would expect for a Destiny Mobile.
For their part, NetEase has been publishing games since 2001 and also has had a recent extensive history working with Western companies. They published Sky: Children of the Light for Thatgamecompany in China, and worked with Blizzard on development of Diablo Immortal. They had also made Marvel Super War (a MOBA) and Marvel Duel (a collectible card game) for Disney, and have future projects in the works with the licenses of The Lord of the Rings, Tom and Jerry, and Harry Potter.
NetEase can also boast to having their own successful original franchise with Naraka Bladepoint: a 60 person battle royale game that eschews FPS combat for action game mechanics. Whatever project Bungie has in the works, they have as trustworthy a partner for it as they can find.
