Bungie Inc. on Thursday said that Activision is tranfering publishing rights for 'Destiny' to Bungie, ending the companies' 8-year partnership.

"When we first launched our partnership with Activision in 2010, the gaming industry was in a pretty different place," Bungie said. "We wanted a partner willing to take a big leap of faith with us."

Bungie announced that it would be taking over the publishing rights to the Destiny series moving forward.

Bungie said that the planned transition process is already underway in its early stages, with Bungie and Activision "committed to making sure the handoff is as seamless as possible."

"With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects," Bungie added.

The company's most recent game, 2017's Destiny 2 (developed by Bungie and published by Activision), earned better critical reception than its 2014 predecessor but failed to live up to the sales expectations of Activision.