Destiny followers are lamenting the way forward for Bungie’s sci-fi shooter franchise, following a threadbare replace this week, launched whereas the developer focuses on supporting Marathon.
Destiny 2 Update 9.5.5.5 arrived on Wednesday, and its full patch notes learn as follows:
And that is it. Now, to be truthful, there was no expectation that this week would carry a huge effectively of recent Destiny 2 content material to hold gamers occupied. Destiny gamers are additionally effectively conscious of the truth Bungie is presently busy attempting to make Marathon a success. However, as one fan put it in response: “I anticipated nothing and nonetheless bought disenchanted.”
Final month, Bungie introduced by way of social media that it was delaying its subsequent main Destiny 2 recreation replace, Shadow and Order, by a full three months — from March till June — one thing it blamed on the want to make “giant revisions” to its content material.
At the time it introduced that delay, Bungie averted mentioning its simultaneous launch of Marathon, which might have arrived inside the similar launch window — presumably to keep away from the suggestion that one challenge was sapping assets from the different. However Destiny followers have discovered it laborious to think about a world the place, had Bungie not been additionally targeted on delivery Marathon, its revisions to Shadow and Order wouldn’t want to take as lengthy.
Certainly, in its assertion on the delay, Bungie appeared to go so far as it may to sign that issues could be quieter for Destiny over the coming months, with primary upkeep and steadiness updates probably the solely modifications that gamers would see. The studio then thanked followers for his or her “continued endurance and help,” earlier than affirming that it could launch extra info on the replace “nearer to launch.”
For a lot of gamers, the information felt like Bungie successfully transferring its public focus on Destiny to the again burner till the summer season months — one thing this week’s newest replace has solely cemented in followers’ minds, leading to a mixture of frustration and darkish humor.
“Virtually 3 hours of downtime for… this,” famous one fan, in a prolonged thread of complaints on reddit. “A single repair.”
“I am curious – what number of patches have solely ever been one patch observe?” questioned one fan. “Even courting again to Destiny 1, I really feel like that has to be a uncommon sight. Not even dogging on the recreation/studio – real curiosity.”
“There’s actually nobody working on this recreation anymore,” wrote one other fan. “Dev crew is genuinely one half timer huh,” added a second. “So successfully they’ve dropped Destiny completely to work on Marathon? Sigh, may of at least launched the DLC you introduced first,” stated a third.
“Subsequent [blog] will actually simply say ‘please play Marathon’,” reads one other remark. “You’ll be able to solely snigger about it after which cry about what has change into of the finest stay service recreation ever,” reads yet one more.
IGN has contacted Bungie proprietor Sony for extra element on its content material plans and assets accessible to work on Destiny, however didn’t obtain a response. In the meantime, it stays a powerful time for the developer and the nine-year-old Destiny 2, whereas there have additionally been blended stories on Marathon’s preliminary launch efficiency thus far.
Final 12 months, Sony stated Bungie had failed to meet its gross sales and person engagement expectations, following a notable drop in Destiny 2 participant numbers. The injury was dangerous sufficient that Sony stated it had been compelled to file a 31.5 billion yen (round $204.2 million) impairment cost as a results of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was vital sufficient to drag down earnings at Sony’s Sport & Community Companies Section, which incorporates Sony Interactive Leisure.
“For years now, Destiny has been on this regular hardening of the core [audience],” Destiny 2 recreation director Tyson Inexperienced instructed IGN again in November. “An increasing number of core gamers are staying and taking part in the recreation, however comparatively few [new] individuals come into the recreation. There’s a tightening and contraction, and this presents issues for a recreation that you just’re attempting to preserve as a stay service, particularly while you need to hold serving these core gamers with nice, compelling expansions.” Precisely when these may arrive, nonetheless, stays to be seen.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You’ll be able to attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social