Three months after Destiny 2’s ultimate replace, Bungie has introduced plans to reinstate vaulted campaigns, raids, and locations to regain player trust.
In a blog post, Poria Torkan (studio head) and Josh Deane (head of product, normal supervisor of Marathon) described Destiny as “foundational to Bungie’s future,” stating the studio has “extra tales to inform [and] new worlds to construct.”
Earlier this yr, Bungie introduced the top of Destiny 2 improvement, leading to layoffs affecting 292 staff.
“The implications have been actual,” Torkan mentioned in a video on Bungie’s YouTube channel. “We misplaced trust. We misplaced unimaginable colleagues. And our ambitions as a studio stalled. We chased imaginative and prescient with out sufficient concentrate on what gamers beloved, and that is on us. We personal that.”
Each executives acknowledged player backlash following the top of Destiny 2 improvement and the elimination of content.
Since 2020, Bungie has archived Destiny 2 content to prioritise new additions in later expansions. Deane acknowledged these options ought to have “by no means been ripped away to start with.”
“They have been an important a part of our journey collectively and undoubtedly a spot the place we constructed recollections with you all. That first step, that restoration, will hopefully lay the muse for the way we reforge into new Destiny tales and video games that you just all deserve and that we wish to create.”
“Bringing this content back isn’t so simple as restoring outdated recordsdata. Adjustments made to Destiny 2 since Past Mild require us to replace lighting, encounters, combatants, and different underlying programs. That work will take time, however it’s crucial to guarantee returning content meets the steadiness and gameplay requirements of Destiny 2 at this time.”
(*2*)
Marathon replace
Bungie additionally up to date its roadmap for Marathon, which “didn’t attain as many gamers as [it] had hoped.”
“Marathon is a vital a part of shaping the place Bungie goes subsequent, but it surely was by no means supposed to change Destiny,” it mentioned. “The sport launched to robust vital reception, and the gamers who embraced Marathon related deeply with what makes it distinct.”
Deane acknowledged that Bungie will modify its strategy to Marathon and “evolve it past the style constraints that we positioned on it.”
“We’re going to develop Marathon right into a deeper survival expertise that offers gamers extra methods to tackle its harmful alien world. Our aim by the top of yr one for Marathon is to protect what you already love, however discover methods to present gamers with extra company in the way you play.”
Future roadmap for Bungie
Bungie has outlined 4 core commitments as it really works to regain player trust with Destiny and Marathon. These are:
- Construct a stronger long-term future for Destiny, whereas honouring and restoring its previous
- Evolve Marathon to develop our group and construct a sustainable future
- Improve transparency round improvement priorities
- Talk extra constantly, particularly when plans change
Torkan acknowledged that Bungie has “made these commitments earlier than” and that it “perceive[s] the scepticism.”
“Rebuilding trust goes to take time. And we’re not going to do it with phrases. We’re going to do it via the video games that we make and the way we present up for our gamers. We nonetheless have exhausting work forward of us to construct a Bungie that’s wholesome, sustainable, and in a position to be round for a very long time, however we consider deeply within the studio, the folks right here, and the video games we’re constructing. Now, we have now to show it.”