Former Bungie lawyer says Sony "inflicting some discipline" may have forced the Destiny 2 studio to "get their heads out of their asses" as the MMO commits to a different kind of roadmap
Sep. 16, 2024Destiny 2 says goodbye to annual expansions and hello to 2 “medium-sized” expansions plus 4 free updates a year
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Bungie’s recently revealed plans tochange how Destiny 2 handles content dropshas won some endorsement from the studio’s former general counsel. While legal expert Don McGowan admits it “pains” him to say it, he muses onLinkedInthat “it appears that Sony’s inflicting some discipline on my former colleagues may have forced them to fix the things that were wrong with their game.”
“To be clear: I’m not talking aboutthe layoffs,” he says (thanks,The GamePost). “I’m talking about forcing them to get their heads out of their asses and focus on things like: implementing a method of new player acquisition; not just doing fan service for the fans in the Bungie C-suite; and running the game like a business. Good. I still have friends in that environment and I’d like them to keep jobs.”
McGowan continues by saying operating like a studio and not an independent company is how he thinks Bungie should embrace life afterSony’s acquisition. Alas, “there were a lot of egos for whom it was important to pretend that ‘nothing would change,'” and the rest is history.
“I remember sitting there during the deal saying ‘do you thinkSonydescribes this as them getting to pay $3.6 billion for the right to have no input into what Bungie does?'” he continues. “That was exactly what a lot of people thought. I guess they’ve been given cause to understand that that’s not how things work. Good.”
Last week, Bungieannouncedthat The Final Shape would essentially end the MMO’s content model of annual expansions and ‘Episodes.’ Now, the MMO will get two “medium-sized” expansions and four free updates a year. All of this will kick off good and proper next year, at which point we’ll get a better of idea of what this all looks like. Though, as for the why, Bungie admits Destiny 2 has “become too rigid” – expansions are starting to feel “too formulaic” and offer “little replay value.”
“We’ve loved creating annual Expansions and are especially proud of The Final Shape,” game director Tyson Green said. “But the truth is that they dominate almost all our development effort. We need to free ourselves up to explore and innovate with how we deliver Destiny 2 content so we can invest in areas of the game that will feel more impactful to players.”
Destiny 2 is experimenting with Metroidvania and roguelike DNA as Bungie admits “Destiny is too complex” and “you practically need a PhD to decide what to play.”
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.
How to get the Destiny 2 Doki Doki armor sets
Destiny 2 is kind of a mess right now: bugs are making it harder to enjoy my favorite MMO and it only seems to be getting worse
As if The Outlast Trials couldn’t get any more deranged, the horror co-op game’s big new update adds more tooth guns and lady who lives in the walls
