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Bungie, the developer which created the Halo series, has been hard at work on a top secret new project ever since handing Master Chief it over to 343 Industries for Halo 4. All that's been known is that the new game will introduce a rich new universe, it will be published by Activision and, unlike the Xbox exclusive Halo games, will be multi-platform.

More details have now emerged, thanks to a carelessly distributed document from an advertising agency, prompting Bungie to 'fess up.

Destiny is the title of the game, and it takes place in the "Last City on Earth" 700 years into the future. The solar system is apparently littered with remants of humanity's golden age, which rather suggests our best days are behind us. Into this grim scenario comes a gigantic alien ship called The Traveller from "the edge of the universe" which lays claim to Earth. Players will take the role of "knights" defending our planet. There's no word on what genre the game will fall into but it has been designed to be a "social experience".

"Destiny is designed for your inner seven year old," says a quote from Bungie co-founder Jason Jones. "We want to make it feel like a mythic adventure." Comparisons are made to Star Wars, and that's confirmed by the first screenshot that Bungie released off the back of the leak. It shows a snowy wasteland with armoured soldiers wearing fearsome helmets and rough brown cloaks.

"Go ahead. Take a peek," read the tongue-in-cheek post on Bungie's website after the info escaped into the wild. "It's alright. We weren't quite ready, but we will be soon, and we can't wait to finally show you what we've really been up to. Stick around, we haven't even started yet."

Destiny, if that is indeed what the game ends up being called, is a long way off. Halo 4, of course, is out right now for Xbox 360.