Destiny 2s last major patch for Bungie effectively the ultimate full-circle moment, with the update arriving on June 9, 2026 and the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved now just around the corner. Dubbed “Monument of Triumph”, the update is a massive tribute to Destiny 2s 9-year legacy, with enough quality-of-life changes and additional content to give players plenty of reasons to jump back in one last time. But while the patch is significant because of what it stands for Destiny 2the timing of it all is strangely ironic too Halo: Campaign Evolved on the horizon.
Halo: Campaign EvolvedHalo Studios' first complete remake of the original Halowill be released on July 28, 2026, barely two months after Destiny 2's Monument of Triumph update will have gone live. What makes it such an important thing to point out is the fact that Bungie was actually the developer of Halo: Combat Evolvedwhich launched on November 15, 2001 as the definitive FPS and changed the gaming industry forever. Now, the modern live-service franchise Bungie has nurtured for over a decade appears to be coming to an end as a remake of the industry-defining FPS that first made the studio a household name prepares to take the spotlight without it.
Saying goodbye to Destiny 2 is the hardest thing I will ever do in gaming
Saying goodbye to Destiny 2 hurts because I'm not just leaving a game behind, but a version of my life that I can never return to.
Bungie's history with Halo made it the FPS Studios of a generation
Before Fate became Bungie's modern business card, Halo made the studio almost impossible to overlook on a global scale. Halo: Combat Evolved launched in 2001 and helped establish the Xbox's earliest solidity for gamers, and went on to become one of the most influential FPS games ever made. Its success naturally turned Bungie into a central name in console first-person shooters for years afterward.
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Halo: Combat Evolved proved that first-person shooters could thrive on home consoles at a time when the genre was almost entirely defined by the PC. From a game point of view, Halo introduced genre-defining innovations such as a regenerative energy shield, a strict two-weapon carry limit, and perfectly tuned dual-analog control mechanics that became industry standards for decades to come. Additionally, its unforgettable sci-fi story and split-screen multiplayer laid the groundwork for modern console gaming and created a multi-billion dollar multimedia franchise without even realizing it at the time.
Then, when Halo 2 launched in 2004 and revolutionized online gaming by introducing features such as automatic matchmaking, party systems and clan playlists, all of which turned Xbox Live into a massive cultural phenomenon and set the permanent architectural blueprint for all modern console multiplayer. For Bungie, Halo 2s commercial success established them as Microsoft's premier flagship studio and what can only be described as an industry superpower, forever changing their corporate identity as a studio. But that success came at a huge internal cost, with Halo 2s brutal development cycle that leaves the team severely burned out and deeply traumatized by severe crisis, forcing a complete overhaul of how they handled their creative scope and move on to the next generation.
Halo: Combat Evolved proved that first-person shooters could thrive on home consoles at a time when the genre was almost entirely defined by the PC.
And last but certainly not least, Halo 3 broke records when it launched in 2007, as it delivered a monumental conclusion to the original trilogy while firmly cementing the Xbox 360 as the dominant console of its generation. By introducing user-generated content tools like Forge mode and a built-in theater system, the game ushered in an entire generation of creators, turning a standard sci-fi FPS into an endless sandbox of community-driven maps and viral machines. Halo 3s massive success then led Bungie towards independence, as they officially split from Microsoft just days after launch to regain control of their own creative future.
Released back-to-back as Bungie's final Halo game, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Well took the series into darker, more experimental territory by removing the Master Chief from the spotlight and focusing on regular human soldiers and Spartan troops. Together, they introduced massive gameplay elements like the cooperative Firefight survival mode and dynamic armor abilities, while expanding the creative sandbox to its absolute pinnacle with a deeply refined Forge mode and the devastating, emotionally heavy story of Reach's inevitable fall. Together, ODST and Reach gave Bungie a fitting farewell to the universe it had spent nearly a decade building, while closing the studio's remaining Halo work with Microsoft and clear the way for Fate 2014 and its sequels, Destiny 22017.
Destiny 2's final patch brings Halo: Campaign Evolved a Full-Circle Moment
Now, after spending almost 12 years devoted to the world of FateBungie is closing the doors on the live-service FPS franchise for now, with nothing confirmed Destiny 3 on the horizon and hope diminishes in society. Monument of Triumph holds Destiny 2 playable and supported, though its purpose is clearly commemorative rather than forward-looking. With no future in sight for the franchise, the update essentially leaves Bungie's most important post-Halo creating in a strange state of celebration and uncertainty.
Almost simultaneously, Halo: Campaign Evolved is preparing to reintroduce the very game that made Bungie famous in the first place. Halo Studios may be leading the remake, but the source material remains one of Bungie's most significant creative breakthroughs, and there will never be any doubt that it, not Halo Studios, was the studio responsible for revolutionizing the gaming industry 25 years ago. It gives Halo: Campaign Evolved a strange symbolic connection to Destiny 2s last major update, even without Bungie's direct involvement.
After spending almost 12 years devoting himself to the world of FateBungie is closing the doors on the live-service FPS franchise for now, with nothing confirmed Destiny 3 on the horizon and hope diminishes in society.
The irony, as unfortunate as it feels, is Fate was meant to be Bungie's great escape from the shadow of Halo. After Halo: Wellmoved the studio away from Master Chief and built a whole new sci-fi universe with a whole new overarching story and gameplay that, regardless of the game's suspension, still influences many modern FPS games today. Now, like Destiny 2s long-running live service era is coming to an end, Halos original campaign returns to remind everyone where Bungie's modern reputation began.
That's what makes the timing feel so unusually appropriate. Bungie built the industry-defining FPS that helped make the Xbox important, then spent over a decade after trying to create a second-generation defining shooter through Fate. With Destiny 2s last major patch landing less than two months prior Halo: Campaign EvolvedBungie's two greatest legacies suddenly stand side by side.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is therefore more than just another nostalgic remake that arrives in a crowded release year that is oddly filled with a host of other video game remakes. Rather, it's a modern throwback to the game that first made Bungie one of gaming's most important studios. When you get this close to the Monument of Triumph, it turns Destiny 2ends with a reminder of how far Bungie traveled after leaving Halo behind.
- Released
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August 28, 2017
- ESRB
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T For TEEN for blood, language and violence
