Destiny 2's death is the end of an era for live service gaming

As painful as it is to hear, Destiny 2pp development days are over, and while Bungie has planned to keep the game alive for as long as possible, the chances of meaningful new content have now dropped to zero. It feels like the end of an era, and as someone who regularly jumps back in when a new expansion drops, I'm very surprised by the decision, yet glad we'll be able to keep playing, at least until Bungie decides to shut it down for good.

The announcement may have been unexpected, but it certainly didn't come out of nowhere. It has become abundantly clear over the years that live service games are struggling to achieve the same reach and staying power they once had. With such a big name now winding down along with many others, we could be about to enter a new age for the world of live service gaming, one with very different priorities, problems and hopefully plenty of new solutions.

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What it means for Bungie

Where do we go from here?

• Move over to Marathon is the main priority.

• Potential for new projects in the pipeline.

Bungie has made it very clear that their work on Destiny 2 ends, aside from one last update to send the game off into the eternal sunset. However, it wasn't until 2022 that Sony acquired the developer for a smaller sum of a few billion dollars, and they clearly still want to keep at least part of the team. While Halo is very much in the arms of Xbox, Bungie's next steps will be very important for the developer's future.

The obvious change is that Marathonwhich has already carved a nice niche for itself in the extraction shooter space. I could really see the universe expanded into a full blown single player game, or even another multiplayer title similar to an MMO. The alternative is that the attention is shifted to a new game i Fate universe, although it has been pointed out that many ideas have failed to make it past the drawing board. If that's not possible, I personally think it would be nice to see something completely new from Bungie, away from sci-fi and into new ground to hopefully reclaim its place on the live service FPS throne.

Even the biggest names can die

No IP is too big

• Proving that seemingly stable games can be left behind.

• Future plans can be uncertain.

Destiny 2 has been around for just under a decade, and in that time we've seen so many DLCs and updates continuously adding content to the game every few months. This model proved quite successful, and many others and I would see the new additions as a way to rekindle the flame, at least for a little while. But despite how big the franchise became, it seems the profits just fell short of the mark.

That cycle has played out for so many other live service games, from Anthem to Marvel's Avengersbut for such an influential title as Destiny 2 to join that club I can't help but feel it was too soon. Yes, the number of players slowly dropped over time, but I still think that being able to pull in tens of thousands of players every month, rising to 100's of thousands during DLC ​​cases, showed that there was a hunger for more content. Choosing to turn things off feels more knee-jerk than logical to me.

Creates space for newer names

Players have to go somewhere

• Other similar games still thrive.

• Attention moves with trends.

The MMO space has never exactly been empty, but over time more shooters have emerged and found an audience that previously wanted a more immersive gaming experience. Games like Warframe and The division was released and developed alongside Bungie's FPS MMO, and found reasonable success that has allowed them to remain online with a steady stream of content and even a sequel, despite the stiff competition.

MMO players tend to like title switching quite a bit, because once they've grinded all the raids or maxed out their characters, the incentive to keep playing is greatly reduced. I can attest to this trend as well, as I always log in a week or so during a new patch, then move on as soon as all the content is ready. Now that there's a minor content train in the way, many of these other games could see a resurgence in popularity, and if another developer is brave enough, I could definitely see a new IP joining the list.

The model no longer works

Live Service Hate Is Real

• Many people despise the current live service models.

• Real cases of catastrophic failure.

It's no secret that live service gaming isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea. If you just look at the last few years, we've seen Harmony, Highguardand XDefiant come and go, all of which were PvP titles that didn't have enough staying power or polish to compete in an already saturated market.

I'm not the only one who dreads announcement shows, because every time a new multiplayer game is announced I can't help but compare it to all the other failures that have plagued the industry for so long. I hope that, as a result of a big name like Destiny 2 leaving the live service pipeline behind, many future games will take note and hopefully opt for a more sustainable model that can keep things alive longer, and maybe even indefinitely.

The future of fate

Will we ever get a third game?

• No word on the trequel yet.

• Active development seems unlikely at best.

I was there when the first trailers for Destiny 2 dropped, and as a huge fan of the original, I was really excited to see where the franchise was headed next. Now, when it came to their monetization model, I wasn't exactly a big fan. The concept of having to drop $40 every other month was far from ideal, but I was still happy to have some extra content, at least until a third game launched.

The gap between the first two games was only three years, and after that the sequel received a steady stream of DLC that continued until 2025. Questions about a third game has always been floating around, and I've always thought it odd myself that we never got one Destiny 3but based on everything that has been discussed internally, I think the chances have become quite small. That being said, I would never say never. Although the focus may be far from another big-budget release, the door for a third Fate remains open for now.

Released

August 28, 2017

ESRB

T For TEEN for blood, language and violence