Bungie has registered a new trademark with United States Patent and Trademark Office for something called “The Taken King.” While our first hunch might be the name of an upcoming Destiny expansion, history suggests we might want to think more broadly.
The trademark was filed on April 28, and includes a logo (as seen above). The applicant is listed as Bungie attorney Jim Charne.
While we’re tempted to link this directly to Destiny, one thing gives us pause. Activision pulled a clever head-fake with The Dark Below, Destiny’s first expansion.
That was registered by Blizzard and, at the time, we thought it might be the name of a Diablo expansion. As history shows, that subterfuge worked perfectly.
We’ve reached out to Activision, and we’ll update should we receive a response. What we do know for sure is that Destiny’s second update, House of Wolves, is due out on May 19.
Update: Activision declined to comment.
Our Take
The logo seems like it could be connected Destiny's Hive enemy faction. The naming has the right cadence for the Destiny universe. If not for history, I’d be pretty convinced. Fool me once, though…