Guardians make their own fate… we always do. And today our fate lies beyond Destiny, beyond Bungie and beyond Sony!

We didn't start this war — the Traveler brought it to us. And we fought it for many years. We won countless battles. We made unlikely alliances. We lost dear friends. We killed gods. We made our names at the brink of defeat. We stopped the Witness. We bargained. We showed up. We pleaded. We delivered our message. We did all we could, and it still wasn't enough, to borrow a phrase of our dear Bray Exo. The final shape, turns out, didn't die with the Witness. It transformed into corporate greed and mismanagement, it entered the minds of those most powerful, poisoned them and delivered its lethal blow when we expected it the least. Yet, we must remember the final words of III:

You stand here that the legacy of Destiny would not die alone today

a death ensures extinction

listen carefully children of my earth

to survive you must bind the talent

it cannot be done. the community will do it...

What is this all about?

I deeply love Destiny 2 and absolutely hate the corporate greed and mismanagement that lead to its death. So in response, I am planning to start a crowdfunding campaign to build the game to fill the void that is left behind. I won't be able to do this alone and I hope that the community will join me on this quest.

The goal is to establish a studio owned by creators to build a space magic looter-shooter MMO game with PvE and PvP capabilities and a familiar Destiny feel. A spiritual successor. A game built with the community, for the community. A game built as a work of art, not a corporate money machine.

To achieve this we will establish a cooperative corporation, where every single permanent employee has equal ownership and voting rights, and are given the freedom to choose the company direction. Based on my experience, the best thing one can do to build an incredibly successful organisation is to gather a team of extremely talented creators, put them into a supportive environment where they can thrive, get the hell out of their way, and let them cook!

The company will operate with full transparency and accountability towards the community. No predatory publishers, no out-of-touch shareholders pushing to squeeze every single penny, no corporate bullshit. Employees will have full control of any profits and will be able to manage them via an open democratic process. We will require an 80% employee vote to ever even consider an acquisition.

Two important things need to happen to pull this off. First, we will have to hit an ambitious funding target. Second, we will have to secure the core team, consisting of the ex-Destiny creators, who know the secret sauce and are willing to embark on this adventure. If both are successful we will build the foundation and get to early access as soon as practically possible, then work with the community to evolve from there.

I can guarantee you that we will make mistakes as we go, but we will take full accountability, learn from them and make sure we do better moving forward.

So I am asking you to join me in making our own fate one more time! Join the socials to come along on this adventure:

Things we won't do

• Assemble a private retro car collection. Unless, of course, our community democratically forces us to 😉
• Waste millions on building an opulent corporate office space.
• Set a bunch of money, time and energy on fire to incubate 10 secret projects instead of investing into the main game.
• Delete content you paid for. We will build the engine foundation to scale from day one.
• Weaponize FOMO to keep players engaged.
• Sunset your precious, hard-earned loot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have you lost your mind?

No, I have not. But even if I have, will I be able to tell anyway? 😜

Why not try to make Destiny 3 or buy the IP?

I don't own any rights for Destiny IP, and trying to deal with Sony means dealing with their corporate influence, handcuffs and lawyers. Wasting millions of dollars on licencing fees that could go into paying actual developers makes zero sense. Plus we want complete creative freedom over this project, even though I have endless appreciation of Destiny's universe.

What is the world setting?

I can't tell you for sure, but it will definitely be space-magic, i.e. a blend of science fiction and fantasy. I have some draft worldbuilding that I would present to the core team once we assemble it, and if they like it we build from there. If they don't, then we will figure out an appropriate world setting.

Why now?

The timing here is critical. I waited for as long as I can, hoping that the public pressure, #WeWantDestiny3, petition will make a difference and Sony will take the community seriously. But alas they didn't. And once the brutal layoffs hit, I started moving. I want to act quickly enough to secure the incredible talent Bungie and Sony are bleeding. I am especially excited to target the RAD (raids and dungeons) team - because we sure as hell intend to cook some raids and dungeons!

Why you and not somebody else?

No particular reason. I just want a great game that brings people together, creates memories and serves as a third space to engage in unique experiences. There isn't another game quite like Destiny 2 and I desperately want one. I am sure you do too. Beyond the passion, I also happen to have 20 years of software development experience across multiple countries, industries, positions and organisation sizes and I want to put all of this to good use for the community and get together a great team to achieve great things.

Games are very expensive to make. How much money will you need?

My rough plan is to build a solid early access build in about 3 years. To make this happen, we will need a team of 50 to 80 people. Based on the current state of the industry, I estimate a $15M/year burn rate. When you factor in platform fees and safety margins, we are looking at roughly a $50,000,000 total funding goal to reach early access.

I am still working out the absolute best way to structure this campaign. We might go for a single, massive «all-or-nothing» funding round, or we might opt for a smaller, bite-sized «kick-start» round to fund a working prototype/vertical slice first, followed by ongoing milestone funding. I'll be reaching out to the community for feedback on how we approach this when the time comes, so make sure to connect and follow the journey.

Is your budget sufficient for what you are planning to achieve?

For the ultimate «North Star» vision? Definitely not. Not even close. But we are not building the entire universe in one go. We will build a solid foundation, earn your trust, and launch into early access. From there we will work to figure out how we can continue financing the development beyond the initial budget. We will have to be smart and ensure we run things in a sustainable way. Maybe we will run targeted fundraisers to develop certain features, expansions and game modes. Maybe we will run development streams and collect donations. Maybe we partner with other businesses and licence out our IP. I simply can't tell you what tomorrow will bring, but we will figure it out together, openly.

What are the next steps?

Right now, I am building the crowdfunding structure and spreading the word. I want to get enough community traction before the campaign goes live so I can approach ex-Bungie devs and show them that we have people waiting to back them.

How can I help?

For now just follow along. Join Discord, follow socials, help spread the word. If you know ex-Destiny devs or artists, please let them know about this campaign and send them this page.