The only matter that could kill Destiny was Bungie itself .
This past week has unquestionably been the defective week in history for Bungie , its stave , andDestiny 2 . Even bad is that , at the time of writing , it ’s only Wednesday . How could so much have gone so catastrophically wrong within 48 hours ?
What’s going on with Bungie and the layoffs?
Bungie , the beloved Washington – based developer of mega - hits like Halo and Destiny , laid off an estimate 8 % of its work force , just about 100 multitude , early on October 30 , 2023 . According to theme byForbes ' Paul Tassiand Bloomberg ’s Jason Schreier , this was not done in a unclouded , unvarying personal manner .
Some realized something was awry when they ascertain their internal approach and e-mail had been revoked . Others noticedstrange 15 - minute meetingshad been summate to their calendars and that sound out meetings were them miss employment . To rub common salt in the wound , the decision to lay off employee was not relay to managers or other stave that had been retained . This give some department discover teams either short - staff or utterly gutted with no anterior notice .
For a party that has touted family values and close relationship among stave , it hurts even more that Bungie leading told those put off not to tell others and that corporate would be handling it . This led to many observe out that friend and coworkers had been lay off via societal media . Due to the abrupt nature of the layoffs , employees were unable to exchange contact information with one another .
No one was deemed safe or untouchable from the layoff asartists , community managers , selling , and more from all department were impact . Employees one would think dependable , like Community Manager Lianna ( Hippy ) Ruppert or longtimeHalo and Destiny composer Michael Salvatori , were also let go .
The layoff on October 30 leave those who were affected with only one more day of benefits before they run out at the closing of the month . The only benefit that was n’t impacted was Bungie - pay COBRA health insurance for three additional month , alongside severance pay for the same duration . to boot , employees would receive any eligible prorate bonuses . Otherwise , employees were scrambling for things like recoup expenses . Those who were part of the vested shares design since theacquisition by Sonywould forfeit any unvested shares to Bungie .
In an effort to obfuscate the total telephone number of those impact , Bungie leadership internally hide the turn employees laid off . It was only through staff , both former and current , that it was determined roughly 100 had been let go .
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A terminal , relatively modest consequence : it was leak that Destiny 2 : The Final Shape would be delayed from February to June 2024 , and the in - development extraction shooter , Marathon , has been push to 2025 despite never bear a public tone ending escort .
concern : Destiny 2 Codes – Emblems , shaders , & more !
The full timeline of events
What does the Destiny community think?
To put it bluntly , the residential area is all over the place at the moment on this issue . First , there are those who are oblivious to what ’s going on with Bungie ; they just get home at the conclusion of the day and reboot up their favorite looter shooter . Some are indifferent , noting that this is simply how line of work work or who are waiting for Bungie to make an official affirmation . Then there are those , like me , who are piecing together the clew and behavior of Bungie like Charlie Kelly in the Pepe Silvia meme and who consider that this may be a decease knell for Destiny 2 .
Casual Players
It ’s a bit cunning to gauge the chance players ' impression . By nature , casuals are … effortless , and rarely outspoken . wait at the data fromSteamCharts , Destiny 2 was at its high point for PC on January 30 , 2023 , roughly a month before the freeing of Lightfall , at 316,651 players . Since then , it has steady drop to 40,196 for the hebdomad of October 30 , 2023 .
Lightfall was rid on the goodwill that The Witch Queen and subsequent class had build . Unfortunately for player and Bungie , this goodwill was squander by a disappointing expanding upon and Seasons ( excluding Season of the Witch ) . to boot , 2023 has been an utterly stellar year for plot expiration . Not only was there been an obscene number of great game hail out , but many of them , likeThe Legend of Zelda : Tears of the KingdomandBaldur ’s Gate 3 , were Brobdingnagian fourth dimension - cesspit . Players had a authentic spread available to them while Bungie was still adjudicate to bring home the bacon them over with reheated leftover .
Invested Players
This is where a lot of the vocal players shine . These are the ones post on social media about Destiny 2 and Bungie while follow data about both . They have a wide range of dedication and judgment on what happened .
In my personal round , I ’ve seen a stack of people sitting on the fence and waiting for Bungie to address what ’s chance . When speaking with friends outside of Destiny and fellow clan member who regularly play , it has been wreak up that this is normal for corporations . If they overhire or their current business mannikin is n’t sustainable , they tailor staff . It ’s simply how the macrocosm works . I ’m not at all all right with that feeling , but that ’s a discussion for another day .
The Prophets of Doom
These are players like me , who believe the writing has been on the wall for some clip . Destiny was originally a 10 - year - foresighted projection , and we ’re coming up on the end of that . Unfortunately , over the past few year , it ’s become clear that Bungie never had a full abstract for the fib and is laying down tracks as it came up to them .
Unfortunately , Bungie seems to have invest fully in this impression by continually recycling content . From recapitulate D1 subject matter to the gameplay grommet and Seasonal activities to holiday events , everything " new " is just old content or mechanics with a different veneer .
This direct to employees at Bungie beg upper direction to make change to exist models as player sentiment was at an all - prison term low . Based on the current state of the plot and how the Festival of the Lost event was a copy - and - paste of previous years , it ’s safe to say that was push aside .
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This has head some participant to desert the game except for the weekly storey beats , which only take 30 minute to complete , if not throw off it entirely . In my own kin group , we ’ve gone from three to four groups running on foray night to shin with induce a single team of six .
This has all been suspected for a long prison term , and the reports from Bloomberg , Forbes , and IGN do nothing but confirm what we ’ve fear . With indirect confirmation that Bungie leadership is only interested in deliver a minimum practicable mathematical product , it ’s only a matter of time before it shuffle off a drop-off .
The Personalities
Paul Tassi , one of the more well-thought-of voices in the Destiny 2 community , has expressed his thwarting with Bungie repeatedly . Since the layoffs began , Tassi has been boosting the voices of the employees touch on while also work to shed light on what hap . Histweetbelow from November 1 add it up well .
I do n’t know how to feel about Destiny as a game now . It feels like a spiral . Obviously many are unmotivated to trifle afte rthis , but that will lead to more loss , more layoffs , even full prostration . We require to support the employee left , but not direction , feels impossible .
Aztecross , a famous Destiny 2 pennant , let go avideo that has since been made private , go over aPaul Tassi articlein addition to provide his own information from inner sources . According to Aztecross , Bungie invited many Escape from Tarkov players to test the upcoming Marathon . After the sport session , Bungie asked the actor if they would toy Marthon should it be released tomorrow . Not a single player raise their script .
Image via Bungie
He also speculate that Bungie ’s upper direction views Marathon as their new golden child . As such , the developer has been using Destiny 2 to funnel money into Marathon ’s development , in gain to move staff there from the D2 squad . Going further , creative leads have been shifted away from D2 to other claim in development . Anyone left on D2 who gear an idea for something unlike is either rejected or the postulation is left to languish .
Further , there are no program for an elaboration after The Final Shape , and Destiny 3 is improbably unlikely to bump unless Marathon is a total bust . The plan episodes are simply meant to " keep the lighting on . "
My Name is Byf , heralded lore master for Destiny , expressed standardized view regarding hisdisappointment in Bungie ’s decisionto lease go of so many talented staff . away from that , he has forbear from making a more lengthy statement , as Bungie has not addressed the affair .
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I ’m seeing so many folks I consider supporter getting laid off . This sucks … it ’s like watching your close family go through something terrible . I’ll have more to say soon . This impacts a nether region of a mickle .
Related : When does Destiny 2 upkeep ending ?
The current state of Bungie and Destiny 2
right on now , affair are looking pretty grim . No matter how you slit it , Bungie did a lot of their former and current employee dingy with this layoff . Based onBungie ’s yesteryear , it ’s strike - or - omit if they even publically call the layoffs . Everyone is look for the next TWID ( This Week in Destiny ) to see if anything is said . I do n’t consider anything about the layoffs will be mention , and if so , it will be heavily sanitized PR speak .
The oecumenical sentiment seems to be that players will come back for the storey content when Season 23 drops , dip out for the continuance of the holdup , and then derive back for The Final Shape before dropping the serial publication solely . Others are consider this as their full point and do n’t care to see where the train is ultimately headed .
Destiny 2 has been bleeding actor for year now thanks to a want of depicted object . The core gameplay loop is large in the style that flour is . It ’s a great pedestal , but that ’s it . However , by adding ingredient and creativity , this base of operations can become many different exciting things that attract and retain a big audience .
Image via Bungie
It ’s felt like Destiny 2 has been on autopilot for some time and everything coming out serve only to reassert these fears . As of right now , it sound like Bungie is in panic mood as they seek to right the Marathon ship . That intend extra clock time must be devoted to both it and The Final Shape . With all handwriting on deck ( fewer than before ) , do n’t require anything outside of what we already have in Destiny 2 .
This can be fine for those who do n’t want anything more substantial out of Destiny 2 . For players who do n’t beware repeating and have been play for years , this train is running smoothly . For new players , it ’s been nothing short of tremendous as Bungie shelved over half the game and does a wretched job of explaining what ’s go on .
What the future holds
Given what we know and what has leak from various germ , it ’s looking increasingly likely that Bungie has no intention of go forward the Destiny enfranchisement if Marathon meets anticipation . This tracks , as the studio has historically only worked on one biz at a clip . Despite the rich traditional knowledge and love the community has for Destiny , it appear Bungie gave up on it years ago and has only been using it to grow Marathon .
However , one has to require why the studio ca n’t do both . Sony just handed Bungie a handicap for $ 3.6 billion one dollar bill . Red Dead Redemption 2 price Rockstar Games anestimated $ 540 millionto make . Aside frombuilding a new studio apartment in Bellevue , WA , and opening an position in Amsterdam , just where did all of that money go ? Let ’s not blank out that Bungie has been boasting about itswork - anywhere military position , making the indigence for a raw office questionable .
Bungie is going digital - first . Most current and future roles will be fully remote eligible in these DoS with more come soon!https://t.co/5Jv3FZRv28pic.twitter.com / Ot43z9tgZm
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As I ’ve stated above , there are some players , including myself , who are going to bewilder it out for The Final Shape . However , like the Marvel interview , we ’re dip once this decade - farsighted saga is over . I do n’t have any confidence that Bungie is going to ace the landing place , as it has been more or less counteract the game for year now .
As for Marathon ? I could n’t care less , and it sounds like those interested in the genre share a similar sentiment . If Marathon is a flop and Bungie kill Destiny , I do n’t know if the studio will have the capital to buy its freedom from Sony . It could very well be cannibalize if this hazardous simulated military operation does n’t pay off .
However , it ’s this very same stratagem that has soured much of the residential area . Whatever goodwill Bungie had with its residential area has all but evaporated now . Upper direction urgently needs to compensate the ship , but it may have already ask on too much weewee .
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I ’m go to be fair with you : this was one of the more unmanageable article I ’ve had to write . Destiny 2 entail the world to me . I ground it at one of the miserable points in my life , and it ’s been with me ever since . By the time The Final Shape comes out , it will have been a 10 - year investing for myself and many others . Ever since Lightfall , I ’ve had doubts about Bungie ’s ability to fetch Destiny to a satisfying ending . Now ? Those doubtfulness have been hammered in with long , iron nails .
For more things Bungie , tick outMost Used Weapons in Destiny 2on Pro Game Guides .
