"As the leaders of Bungie, past and present, we recognize Destiny 2 fell short of expectations the past several years" ︀︀ ︀︀
You mean the same leaders that said this? ︀︀ ︀︀You mean like Pete Parsons who continued to lay people off while growing his car collection, even inviting devs to his house to flex his cars to before firing them the next day? ︀︀ ︀︀
The same leaders who screwed the company, the same leaders who screwed the game, and then because the game obviously tanked, the VERY SAME leaders who in the past and present toss the devs who put their heart and soul into keeping this game alive, out on the streets (in the worst economy and job market in recent history) like nothing. ︀︀ ︀︀
Bungie leadership is exactly why we're at this point. ︀︀ ︀︀
Sincerely, Fuck you Bungie leadership, and especially Pete, I hope the left over devs walk out and find a new company to work for.
If Warframe hired Destiny RaD team and had them make raids I would start playing Warframe instantly. It is genuinely that simple. If a number of people from that team are hired for the same game I will play that game.
Let this moment radicalize you, let this moment center your focus on who is responsible. It is the shareholders, it is the executives, the CEOs, and the system that enables their capacity to completely upend developers and artists’ lives, who fail and destroy games we love.
Alright, so now that we can confirm Bungie leadership was indeed involved in every step of deciding to end Destiny, I’ve got some unfiltered thoughts.
-The content vault was the sole destroyer of all positive momentum and sentiment for the game when players now had to spend money on new expansions every year or two with an inherent fear that content would be vaulted anyways. “Pay for access” is the death of player investment and the DCV highlighted itself as the most destructive decision ever made in any game to-date.
-Destiny 3 should’ve been green-lit immediately after the Witch Queen, Lightfall, and Final Shape reveals in 2020 and 2021. It would’ve been the perfect lead-in for concluding Destiny 2. They knew the saga was concluding with Final Shape and the game was becoming too bloated. Had they decided to do so, they could’ve announced Destiny 3’s release at this very moment 5-6yrs later. It also would’ve been the perfect bargaining chip to PlayStation for the acquisition by showing longevity of an established and secure IP with a clear title release forthcoming.
-I can guarantee a very large base of players will decide to avoid this “new journey” in Bungie if it isn’t Destiny 3. This demographic of players over the last 10yrs are Destiny fans who spent the last decade exclusively in Destiny - even bringing their kids to enjoy. For sure, you’ll have many who will try whatever comes next, but if it isn’t Destiny, you’re going to have a very large gap.
-Marathon’s “strong foundation” is grossly over-exaggerated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good game that plays unbelievably well and perfectly emanates the identity of Bungie, but its retention concerns are so evident that to deny its existence is damaging. An extremely large portion of marathon players migrated from Destiny and are the core audience to consider here. To Shut down their original game with no plan in sight while saying “we have this instead” will not produce positive results. If marathon wants to succeed beyond its extraction mode, it needs a world built like Destiny, told like Destiny, and world-shaped from the marathon lore that’s been build since the 1990’s.
-If Destiny 3 is not in development and they have no plans to continue the franchise, sell the rights to another reputable studio who believes in the IP and will keep it alive. Destiny is arguably the best looter shooter that defined a literal genre and to abandon development of one of the biggest established IP’s in history is a terrible business decision.
-All of this stems from terrible decision making from the top-down. The game went from creating one of the greatest gaming worlds and stories ever made over the last decade to dollar signs and spreadsheets first. Game success comes from building a full experience that players cannot help but be immersed in.
Blaming “industry shifts” for a game struggling is code for “we aren’t getting it right on our end because we’re making the wrong decisions at the wrong time.”
The players haven’t changed; the reason for developing a game did.
I’m angry. I’m frustrated. I’m sad. I’m hurt. I’m lost. Destiny was home for over 10yrs.
I’ll see y’all in the tower.
To everyone defending management:
Ignorance is not passive. You're CHOOSING to defend corporate greed. I got caught in it, every step until a layoff. I envy the way you see the world because you'll defend them and not realize how much they dont give a fuck about you. Cheers.
At what point does Hermen step down?
- Buys bungie for 3.6 billion only to layoff more than half of the studio, launch an underperforming game and kill Destiny
- Invests heavily into Concord (buys the studio & IP) only to shut it down less than 2 weeks after launch
- Buys Haven Studios, but founder & the game director leave because fairgames fails testing & has to be completely reworked
- Buys remake studio Bluepoint to have them work on a GoW live service, shuts them down
- Lets Guerrilla Games work for countless years on a fortnite Horizon game that is only appealing to a very small audience, but likely costs 300 million dollars + to make
- Partners with a studio who reveal 4loop a new live service to lukewarm reception
- Let Days Gone team Sony bend work on a live service game, cancels the game so many years & money is lost
- Lets London Studios known for VR games & other titles work on a live service, shuts them down
- Opens Dark Outlaw games by former Call of Duty Zombies people, shuts the studio down
I might be forgetting things... what a generation.
Sony is gonna be in for a very rude awakening when they find out putting all their chips on Marathon was a bad move,
I think it’s a fun game, but Destiny should be the main focus, and not supporting Destiny 2, or developing Destiny 3, is legit an incredibly stupid decision.
Play the Demo! Giveaway Event
Follow & repost this post to enter!
Ten lucky winners will receive a Steam gift card worth JPY 10,000!
⏰ Deadline: 2:59 p.m., July 2 (UTC)
Details: https://t.co/PR6bhwhD5B
#Relink#EndlessRagnarok