Earlier this week, Activision announced in an earnings call it was disappointed with the sales of Destiny, one of its major franchises, and promised it would have new ways to monetize its games and would be putting out content more frequently as a result (whether this applies to Destiny 2, specifically, is likely the implication but not entirely guaranteed). Bungie, however, doesn’t feel disappointed at all, according to the current director of the franchise.
Destiny director Luke Smith has taken to Twitter to express his lack of pride in his team. “We are not disappointed with Forsaken,” he posted. “We set out to build a game that Destiny players would love, and at Bungie, we love it too.”
Smith also stated something that could mark a shift in direction for the series in the coming years. “Building Destiny for players who love it is and will remain our focus going forward.”
https://twitter.com/thislukesmith/status/1061317979881656320
While the statement sounds boilerplate at first, it’s striking for a couple of reasons. First in light of the perception of Destiny 2 at launch as favoring casual players over dedicated players (and suffering from some longevity problems as a result), Forsaken was a shift in the opposite direction, emphasizing how the expansion would keep hardcore fans busy for months. Smith’s statement makes it clear this will be the focus for Destiny 2’s expansions going forward (the next minor expansion, Black Armory, is planned for December).
Second, it could be indicative of the series’ long-term outlook; it could be a sign the company does not plan to return to the casual-first strategy it implemented with Destiny 2 at first whenever its proper sequel rolls around.
For more on Destiny 2: Forsaken, check out our glowing review of the the game’s launch state.
Destiny, and Destiny 2 in particular, has always struggled with being a big-budget shooter with a proper “campaign” and setpieces, and an MMO-lite the focused on offering a satisfying loot grind. I’m wondering, with this stated new focus, if Bungie is settling on the latter, focusing less on making the kind of game fans of Halo’s single-player campaigns might want and focusing more on the fans who stick around for the long haul, even if that means making less money on direct sales. As someone who’s regularly played Forsaken for the last couple of months, I’m hoping that’s the case.
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