voluntarily choosing to self publish when you have the option to get a contract with a publisher is one of the dumbest strategies in the world. you're limiting your project's potential and cutting its funding down to a mere fraction. you'll basically have no room to expand your studio at all because you wont be making enough money to afford new employees or more expensive technology. and you'll be taking a huge risk that will put you and everyone's job on the line, and basically the future of the company.
bungie, like almost every other large game studio on the entire planet, cannot survive on self publishing. they will take a contract