Seattle games developer Bungie seems to have started development on a new franchise.
That's going by a job posting on the studio's website for an Incubation Art Director, which outlines the role and makes reference to a new IP and sounds rather different from its previous releases, Destiny and Halo. This project is going to be "comedic" with "lighthearted and whimsical characters," which sounds a far cry from the studio's rather stoic output to date.
"Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities?," the ad reads.
"Would you like to work on something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters?"
The post continues: "As the Incubation Art Director, you will define the look of a new Bungie IP and work on all aspects of art to guide a prototype on the path to production," the description continues. "Most importantly, you will work with a fun, dedicated, and passionate cross-discipline team devoted to making a new franchise at Bungie."
This could well be Matter, which was a trademark filed by Bungie in Europe in 2018. The firm also took $100m in investment from Chinese publishing giant NetEase. Bungie has said it wants to launch a new IP by 2025.
Bungie bought the Destiny publishing rights from Activision Blizzard at the start of 2019 and is now handling the title itself. Now it has full control over the IP, the studio has hinted that there may be a TV show on the way.