Bungie revealed a plethora of information on Destiny 2’s immediate future, along with reshuffling at the studio, as Bungie shifts its focus from developing the Destiny sequel to supporting it for the foreseeable future. We’re not sold on the game’s long term prospects yet. But it sounds like Bungie knows it will take a lot of work to keep Destiny 2 players interested in its latest shooter.
The biggest news from Bungie’s TwitchCon panel was a public torch passing. According to the studio’s convention representatives, the team that developed Destiny 2 is no longer responsible for its day-to-day management. Those duties have been passed to the infamous Live Team, a group who handles bug fixes, weapon balancing and other gameplay tweaks. They also absorb the lion’s share of the criticism from Destiny players who aren’t happy with the current state of the game. According to Bungie, the Live Team has been tasked with finding new reasons for the community to keep playing Destiny 2, along with creating new rituals, events and other activities that help maintain player interest (like Faction Rallies). The transfer of power frees up the core Destiny 2 team to focus on Curse of Osiris and (eventually) the second Year One expansion.
We also got an avalanche of information about Seasons, Bungie’s short term plan to maintain a respectable daily player count. Each year will be split into four seasons -- no word on whether or not they’ll be tied to real seasonal transitions -- and the onset of each season will bring major changes to the Destiny 2 “sandbox.” Sometimes those changes will include new features. Some seasons begin with major balance changes and/or other tweaks that significantly shift the meta. The idea is to downplay the notion that you have to play Destiny on a regular basis. There will always be new events to look forward to. But those who stick around for everything will have a vault full of unique drops to reflect their dedication. The contents of Bright Engrams will also change from one season to the next; a decision sure to generate strong opinions from those who already weren’t fond of the (optionally) for-pay loot boxes.
Unfortunately, there’s no archive of the discussion yet; however, the Destiny 2 sub-reddit has an excellent breakdown of all the information from Bungie’s TwitchCon panel. There are going to be new shaders, new ships, new Ghosts and even some new Clan perks. The studio says fans can expect to learn more from Bungie’s upcoming participation in Paris Games Week.
Destiny 2 is currently available on PS4 and Xbox One. The game hits PC on Oct. 24.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Destiny 2 news in 2017 and however long Bungie supports Destiny 2 in the years ahead.
