I'd like for somebody who knows the industry well to give me an answer to this, because I just don't see the point. I'll start off by saying that video game publishers nowadays are almost pointless to begin with, as video game developers can do almost everything video game publishers can thanks to the evolution of technology.
I will, however, say that video game publishers do still have a purpose and that is to help startup video game developers who are creating their first or second game. The publisher can use their popularity to market the game and make the developer successful.
What I'm not getting is when you have a huge video game developer like Bungie needing the support of an unethical video game publisher like Activision? I've been playing Destiny for several months and have noticed signs of Bungie having to implement things into their game which they don't want because of Activision. I've also noticed that they're not allowed to announce upcoming updates because of Activision's shareholder reports.
It just seems like nonsense to me.