Back in June, Bungie CEO Peter Parsons announced that the company was changing directions. With the aid of new, Chinese investors the studio would be pursuing new projects, without Activision’s involvement. Destiny will remain, but it’ll be joined by sister franchises, ones that will be self-published and owned entirely by Bungie.
Parsons claims the goal is to turn Bungie into a “multi-franchise” studio. Speculation quickly arose around this new project, assuming there aren’t multiple. Marathon 4, a sequel to their pre-Halo shooter, was briefly mentioned in their contract with Activision as early as 2013; this seemed one possibility. Another existed in the form of a medieval adventure game that had been developed simultaneous with Destiny, but had been iced after Destiny’s development hit full speed.
It seems that neither are Bungie’s new franchise, though. According to a trademark Bungie just filed with the EU, their newest project is called “Matter.” The filing doesn’t tell us exactly what this game is, or what it will look like, just an image of a very colorful logo.
It’s worth noting that the timing of the filing tells us nothing of the game’s release window. It could release next year or in ten years. There isn’t a consistent timing that these filings take place at relative to the game’s eventual release.
The best bet is that it will be a next-gen title, but any details beyond that are best left to the imagination.