Destiny 2 And Bungie: A Community Divided
Bungie, the creative force behind the beloved interstellar looter shooter Destiny 2, is no stranger to a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. From the great content droughts of 2015-2017 that preceded the launch of Destiny 2, to the less-than-stellar post-game content and DLCs that followed, Destiny players have become accustomed to navigating through these challenging times. The community has weathered these storms, emerging even stronger, and Bungie has a knack for thriving when their back is against the wall. We all remember how Forsaken garnered widespread praise and, even earlier, how The Taken King expansion in 2015 breathed new life into the game, rescuing it from an early demise.
However, this time around, the storm clouds seem darker and more foreboding. The recent layoffs of key employees and figures within the studio have sent shockwaves through the community. This has prompted me to step out of my Destiny hidey hole, where I usually retreat during such dramatic episodes, to offer my perspective on the situation. It's hard to shake the feeling that this time, things are different.
The State Of The Community - War On Multiple Fronts
To fully understand the gravity of the situation and why it seems louder then any incident before it, it is key to understand the mindset of the community. And at current the health of the fanbase is far from good. There are many different reasons for this and in my own interpretation through interacting (or the lack thereof at times) with the community I have seen different sects of players form.
For starters there is the PVP playerbase who have, all things considered, been starved for content. For pretext I am not a PVP player, I hardly engage with it because it is not my thing. But I can sympathize with the neglect those players must have been feeling for years as little to no new content has been developed for that side of the game, since well, Trials of Osiris rereleased a few years ago. With the type of game Destiny 2 is, the meta or what is currently owning PVP needs to be constantly evolving and alongside that new maps or modes would only benefit such a shake up. But the meta only changes every season with the addition of new guns or perks and that is hardly enough to hold committed PVP players. With the announcement of a “PVP Strike Team” sending joy through this group of the playerbase, the recent layoffs throw even that into doubt further aggravating those who relish the thrill of Guardian-on-Guardian combat.
The second and perhaps the largest group of players, with various subgroups, is the the PVE community. Now, here's a statement that might ruffle a few feathers, but it's my honest belief: Destiny 2 is fundamentally a PVE-centered game. After all, there would be no loot to chase if there were no Vex, Hive, Wrathborn, or other denizens of the Witness to vanquish. In my perspective, this facet of the game has remained fairly solid over the past few seasons, but I recognize that this is just one viewpoint among many.
Within Destiny's PVE community, there are distinct categories of players: the hardcore, the casual, and the newbies. And since the release of the very poorly received “Lightfall” expansion these groups of players have had differencing views about the game leading to a lot of infighting.
I’ll keep it brief but before starting I want to mention I am not a hardcore player, I say I am more of a upper level casual player (since 2015) as the hardcore community is something everyone should avoid with a ten foot poll unless you like that kind of thing. Because I do not really engage with players like that I only have some insight into how they feel. But it seems that the hardcore players are suffering from pure burn out and lack of content catered to their playstyle. Bungie's attempt to increase the game's difficulty with the launch of Lightfall may have inadvertently thrown things off balance. New players, already struggling through a challenging new player experience, find it even tougher and are the targets for hate from more experienced gamers, and casual players can't simply jump in for some laid-back fun. Suddenly, everything demands optimization, and you need to be on your A-game at all times, or you're likely to get booted from any endgame activity.
In an effort to please each group of players, Bungie has stumbled quite a bit leading to player agitation and with waring views on how hard the game should be from the various players at different skill levels it has devolved into quite a mess.
And when no one thought it could get worse, Bungie had another slip up.
We’ve Been Here Before - Uncertain Future
Like mentioned before we dived deep into this rabbit hole, I avoid these spouts of drama like the plague. This is because I love Destiny and the stories it has to tell. Hell, it even got me to become a writer in the first place. So I am always hesitant to weigh in on stuff like this. But this time I said screw it because again in this case, it feels a little more personal.
What Went Down:
Employees where let go without any advance warning. It’s been mentioned internally on meetings to other developers not to talk to those on the chopping block in order to keep it hush hush. This means any healthcare or packages that would of applied for a month only applies for a few days as the layoffs occurred at the end of last month.
While at first Sony was blamed for such layoffs it became clear with was all on Bungie’s side.
The post-Lightfall period saw a substantial dip in annual revenue, with estimates indicating a significant 45% decrease.
Many employees are understandably frustrated with upper-level management due to what seems like a breach of trust in what was otherwise presented as a tight-knit studio.
One of the most heart-wrenching developments was the departure of composer Michael Salvatori, whose beloved music, including tracks like "Deep Stone Lullaby" and countless others, has breathed life and depth into the game.
Final Shape, the highly anticipated conclusion to the 10 year Darkness vs Light saga has been delayed from February 2024 to June 2024.
These are some highlights but Paul Tassi a renowned Destiny blogger has some great posts on the topic. For me, the most profound loss was that of Michael Salvatori. His music not only kept me coming back to the game but also added a layer of depth that I fear won't be quite the same with anyone else at the helm.
Conclusion
Just like in the past, Destiny 2 finds itself in an uncertain position. However, this time, a perfect storm of high player tension and infighting between various player types has pushed the overall sentiment of the game to an all-time low. The recent decisions made by Bungie have not only breached trust within their employee ranks but have also eroded the trust between players and the studio. To make matters worse, higher-ups warned the employees that player feedback would become harsh and very negative once these decisions were made public. So far, that prediction seems to be holding true, as the game faces intense review bombing, causing its once "overwhelmingly positive" score to dip into the "mixed" category at the time of writing.
