Bungie’s recent Destiny 2 state of the game is one of its most disastrous

I’ve been around the block with Bungie, having played Destiny since the original Destiny 1 alpha. And let me tell you: it can be rough! Bungie is a fascinating case study, as they’ve managed to create one of the best-feeling shooters ever made, but haven’t been able to figure out how to run a live service game for nearly nine years. Their recent “State of the Game” blog tests that theory once again.

Why are people so mad at the August 2023 Destiny 2 State of the Game blog?

In the aforementioned blog, Bungie essentially delivers their “we’re listening, but not doing much about it.” It’s a classic read-between-the-lines situation for the studio, which has struggled to keep up with player requests, basic quality-of-life additions, and everything in between. The core issue is that folks have been asking for more Gambit and PVP variety: an aspect of the game that has slowed to a crawl with a distinct lack of updates. The answer? “Tough.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“The most frequent feedback we see is that there is just not enough new PvP content, specifically new maps. To set expectations, our studio structure is built to support more overarching updates to PvP like the ones above, rather than focusing exclusively on maps. When we do focus our resources on building new Crucible maps, it comes with the tradeoff of multiple teams’ bandwidth on work that contributes to a variety of experiences that players also hold dear, such as new story or Exotic mission content, core activities that make up the foundation of each Season, or new destinations. Similarly, bringing back reprised maps also involves extensive porting to the latest version of Destiny 2, which requires additional resources to ensure the maps work correctly for multiple game modes and play styles for years to come.”

Destiny‘s rickety code strikes again! Although the team promises “exciting” content coming, it essentially amounts to a map and a few modifiers. The even bigger issue is that Gambit mode (PVPvE) is seemingly dead, as old maps and enemies are being “ported over to the current version of Destiny 2.” That idea to vault nearly everything is still biting them.

Beyond PVP woes, the massive blog update manages to technically say a lot, without saying much at all. The “main” Destiny reddit is aflame (more than usual, ha!) with posts like this, which hit differently after a fairly underwhelming expansion drop. Many big content creators are speaking out against the update as well, and when coupled with disappointment from the last expansion; even some of the most fervent Destiny supports are losing hope.

This is to be expected, as a long-time Destiny player. It’s no secret that the game waxes and wanes, big sweeping bad changes are made, and the team walks them back to the point where it’s “acceptable.” The question is: how long can they keep operating like that? Especially with Marathon on the horizon.