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Destiny 2: The Final Shape
AFTER A DIFFICULT YEAR, DESTINY 2: THE FINAL SHAPE HAS A LOT TO PROVE. BUT BUNGIE IS DETERMINED TO END THE SERIES’ FIRST SAGA WITH A BANG
In early April, Bungie released a teaser video detailing some of the new features it had planned for Destiny 2’s sixth expansion, The Final Shape. The reaction from the community was immediate: “We’re so back!”
Before that teaser, the mood around Destiny 2 was decidedly different. The game’s last expansion, Lightfall, was poorly received. As the penultimate release of Destiny’s first saga, its story felt like a sidequest – rushing through poorly explained plot threads that, outside of a couple of important cutscenes, felt inconsequential to the broader narrative. More damaging, arguably, was the way the sandbox had been changed. In an effort to bring challenge back to the game, Lightfall brought sweeping nerfs to weapon damage and ability uptime – players were being asked to put in more effort for largely the same reward.
It was a year, I think, that many players realised they had burned out on Destiny. The first game released almost ten years ago on consoles, and Destiny 2 itself has been running since 2017. Across that long history, Bungie has been no stranger to controversy – the difficulties of running a live service game, especially one that is also a big-budget first-person shooter with a focus on co-operative PvE activities, has often led the studio towards solutions that run counter to what the playerbase wants. There is nothing else like Destiny, not at the scope and scale that Bungie is making it on. But that means there is no obvious template to follow. For all the great times across that decade, there have been plenty of major missteps too.
Since Lightfall, the game has improved. Subsequent sandbox updates have restored potency to weapons and abilities. Seasonal activities have been more experimental and interesting, and often much more rewarding too. But community sentiment was slow to recover. When The Final Shape was first previewed back in August 2023, the response was more muted than for previous expansion reveals. As the culmination of the Light and Darkness saga it was obviously going to be a landmark release, but in terms of the features revealed it felt somewhat underwhelming.
THERE IS NOTHING ELSE LIKE DESTINY, NOT AT THE SCOPE AND SCALE THAT BUNGIE IS MAKING IT
In October 2023, Bungie laid off roughly 100 employees, and in November that year confirmed rumours that The Final Shape had been delayed. “This has been one of the most difficult weeks in our studio’s history, as we’ve parted ways with people we respect and admire.” Bungie wrote, in a statement on the Destiny 2 website.
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