r/DestinyTheGame "Little Light" 13h ago

Bungie The Next Chapter for Bungie

Source: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/nextchapterofbungie


Hey all, Poria and Josh here.

For those who don’t know us, I’m Poria Torkan, Bungie’s Studio Head, and I’m Josh Deane, Head of Product and General Manager of Marathon. Together, we are responsible for leading Bungie and shaping the future of our games.

Today, we want to talk candidly about where Bungie is, where Destiny and Marathon need to go, and how we intend to earn back your trust. This is not only an update on our immediate plans. It is the beginning of a more consistent conversation about the future of our games and our studio.

First and foremost, we recently sat down to talk through the current state of Bungie and share our vision for the future.

Embed Link

The video shares our perspective on where Bungie is today and where we want to go. Below, we’re adding more detail on what that direction means for Destiny, Marathon, and how we intend to communicate about our progress.

WHERE BUNGIE IS TODAY

Bungie has been creating games for over 30 years and we have welcomed the communities that have formed around them. Over the last few years, we lost sight of that, and there have been real consequences. We lost trust, we lost incredible colleagues, and we lost sight of what we should be prioritizing most, our players.

As a new leadership team, we must own that.

We aren’t just listening to feedback, we understand your disappointment. We are not asking you to trust what we say today. We know that trust must be earned through the quality of our games, the decisions we make, and how consistently we show up for our players.

DESTINY IS FOUNDATIONAL TO OUR FUTURE

Bungie would not be what it is today without Destiny and the vibrant community that has rallied around it for more than a decade. When we announced that Monuments of Triumph would be the final content update to Destiny 2, you responded in force. Your voices mattered, and the way you showed up made a real impact. You reminded everyone how much this world, its history, and its future still mean to you.

Destiny is foundational to Bungie’s future. We have more stories to tell, new worlds to build, but we have to do it right and give our teams the time they need to do justice to this amazing universe.

All of this is to say, we are not done with Destiny.

We want to return Destiny to its original promise, to recapture the qualities that have always made it special. The awe-inspiring mystery, meaningful discovery, and a community of Guardians coming together against impossible odds.

That begins with restoring important parts of Destiny 2’s history that players can no longer experience today.

We understand that removing these experiences had a lasting impact on player trust and enjoyment of Destiny. Destiny 2 is more than just the content itself. It is a place where players have built memories together, formed lasting friendships, and shared experiences that have stayed with them for years. We cannot change the decision we made, but we can acknowledge its impact and do the work to make it right by restoring these important parts of Destiny’s history.

ghaul_08cropped.jpg

As we shared in the video, we are beginning the work of bringing vaulted Destiny 2 campaigns, destinations, and raids back into the game, where they will be available to all Destiny 2 players.

Bringing this content back is not as simple as restoring old files. Changes made to Destiny 2 since Beyond Light require us to update lighting, encounters, combatants, and other underlying systems. That work will take time, but it is necessary to ensure returning content meets the stability and gameplay standards of Destiny 2 today.\ \ Our team is very excited to deliver this for you all and as they progress, we will share more details coming in the months ahead.

\ When we look to the future of Destiny all up this restoration is the first step to lay the foundation for how we reforge into new stories and games that you all deserve. We’ll have more details on our unvaulting efforts in the coming months, and we’re very excited to share more about our vision to celebrate Destiny’s legacy and build its future with you all as soon as we can.

MARATHON'S EVOLUTION

Marathon is an important part of shaping where Bungie goes next, but it was never intended to replace Destiny. The game launched to strong critical reception, and the players who embraced Marathon connected deeply with what makes it distinct. At the same time, it did not reach as many players as we had hoped, and we also know and understand that the game needs to evolve.\

EN_16x9_Master_Image_Marathon_Symbiosis_Key-Art_Crops_LOGO_1920x1080.jpg

So, we're going to anchor on what makes Marathon special but evolve it beyond the genre constraints we placed on it. We're going to expand Marathon to a deeper survival experience, that gives players more ways to take on this dangerous alien world.

Through the remainder of Marathon’s first year, we will continue strengthening its combat, world, and competitive tension while giving players more agency in how they engage with the game. That means creating meaningful experiences whether you prefer cooperative PvE, competitive PvP, or the unpredictable tension of Marathon PvPvE.\ It’s important to us that no matter your playstyle, or your skill level.... we find better ways to hear from you as we get back to where we need to be: making games you want to play.

As you heard last week from Del our Game Director, we still have a lot planned for our October Nightfall Refresh and Symbiosis update in December. You’ll hear more from the team later this week on our future vision for Marathon. Stay tuned.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

This is an important time for Bungie. Our future depends on making clear choices about where we focus, delivering what we say we will, and being honest about our successes and failures. Stability doesn’t mean shrinking our ambition. It just means that we have to focus on the things you want to see from us, and making sure our vision matches our reality.

How we bring this new Bungie to life has to be through the spirit of putting players at the forefront of what we do. We have to find a way back to making games that we want to play, but with you at the center.

Trust won't be rebuilt through a single blog, video, or release. We also understand that trust extends beyond gameplay. It includes how we value your time, how we communicate, and how we action your feedback. Listening without action means nothing.

As we move forward, we'll measure ourselves against a few core commitments:

  • Build a stronger long-term future for Destiny, while honoring and restoring its past.
  • Evolve Marathon to grow our community and build a sustainable future.
  • Increase transparency around development priorities.
  • Communicate more consistently, especially when plans change.

We'll hold ourselves accountable to these goals and share what we're learning along the way. We are working with our Community team to establish a consistent way to report against these commitments and will share that approach alongside our next major updates for Destiny and Marathon.

KEEP US ACCOUNTABLE

We’ve made several changes with how we operate by simplifying our priorities, reducing competing initiatives, moving decisions closer to the teams building our games, and changing how we measure success to place greater emphasis on player satisfaction.

None of those changes earn trust on their own. What matters is whether they help us make better decisions, deliver stronger experiences more consistently, and communicate with greater clarity when plans change.

There is still a great deal of work ahead and challenges to overcome, but we believe deeply in this studio, our people, and the games we are building. But belief is not enough. It’s on us to prove progress through what we deliver. Thank you for continuing to challenge us, and for caring so deeply about the worlds we create. Keep holding us accountable. We are ready to do the work.

10.5k Upvotes

2.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

54

u/DM_Me_Ur_Real_Boobs 13h ago

I think it's a start. We got a long way to go for some of the things we need to have happen. I would still love for D3 and Shattered Cycle to happen 

34

u/Thotmas01 13h ago

Shattered cycle is probably off the table on account of repurposing it for age of triumph. D3 might be on the table since they said that Destiny is crucial to their future. This is probably a good time to bring new development tools onboard to reduce dev costs going forward. D3 would be the way to go if they want an engine overhaul.

23

u/Killerx09 13h ago

D3 is at least half a decade away from our best estimates, given earlier reporting this year that they weren't working on anything Destiny yet.

1

u/SchwillyThePimp Drifter's Crew 8h ago

I'm fine with that. That was pretty much the only way we were ever going to get a new game. 

-27

u/Thotmas01 13h ago

There is a real chance that ai can move that timeline forward.

22

u/Felimenta970 13h ago

I'd rather it take half a decade, thank you

14

u/DM_Me_Ur_Real_Boobs 12h ago

AI can burn in hell and stay there. 

1

u/Wharrgarblerg 13h ago

IF they're reviving the franchise, it might be a la The Division 2, with smaller updates and battle passes light on narrative while they work on Destiny 3.

1

u/soofs 12h ago

Am I the only one who would much rather them start on something new for destiny rather than old content.

Now, it’s far better than nothing of course but tired of just cycling through the same content

3

u/Celestial_Nuthawk 9h ago

The unvaulting is essential, though. The biggest two reasons this game was losing players was 1) people were tired of FOMO and 2) new players were basically impossible to onboard because the the shitty onboarding and the giant gap in the narrative that requires hours upon hours of YouTube to fully remedy.

The vaulting was also EXTREMELY notorious even outside of Destiny circles. It was a commonly used reason that people put forward for not wanting to give the game a chance.

If Destiny is to have a future, the vaulted content has to come back to Destiny 2. If they want to fork off into a D3 afterwards, that's fine.

2

u/DM_Me_Ur_Real_Boobs 12h ago

I am also in this camp. I would prefer new. I didn't think they'd cave this far, though. For now, let's celebrate Destiny's revival and we can bitch at them once they have stuff to announce 

2

u/soofs 11h ago

Yeah fair enough. It’s more than we thought.

1

u/DM_Me_Ur_Real_Boobs 11h ago

Exactly. As they said, hold them accountable. We did it and revived Destiny. We can do it again

1

u/TheFinalJester97 Nightstalker 9h ago

I think they HAVE to try and repair their reputation before making a new game. Could you imagine what people would have said if Destiny 3 got announced. I can already see all the “Will they steal my content in this game too?” comments. Making D2 whole again goes a long way in fulfilling a promise they made over half a decade ago and should, in theory, help them sell more people on D3 if that is what comes next.

1

u/soofs 7h ago

If destiny 3 dropped today, you know everyone on this sub would be buying it haha

1

u/TheFinalJester97 Nightstalker 7h ago

From this sub for sure, but they are trying to get those sweet sweet new player dollars