Yesterday’s PlayStation State of Play had some pretty cool announcements in it, but none that the loudest members of Twitch chat were interested in, apparently.
This is nothing new when it comes to gaming presentations (I have the chats hidden in perpetuity), but there’s a unique wrinkle this time around. For me, Marvel’s Wolverine is looking awesome. I’m excited for ILL and Silent Hill: Townfall. And of course, God of War: Laufey is going to be incredible. But judging by the messages in the chat, the only thing anyone cared about was Destiny 3.
From the beginning to the end of the broadcast on Twitch, the chat was relentlessly spammed with “#WeWantDestiny3” messages and emotes. You can see it for yourself in the image above and in the VOD’s chat replay. The way things look right now, Destiny 3 is not happening, but that’s not stopping players from voicing their frustrations loudly, if not obnoxiously.
Fans of Bungie’s looter shooter franchise are being immensely vocal about their displeasure with the news that next week’s Monument of Triumph update will be the last one in Destiny 2’s live-service era. It’s a massive update filled with content that was likely meant to be spaced out over the next few months and years.
And so, at times, it felt like it would or could never happen, but it is: Destiny 2 will no longer receive updates.
There are multiple reasons for this, but it’s mostly a business decision with PlayStation likely holding the reins since it owns the studio. Destiny 2’s last few expansions, especially those that released since Sony’s $3.6 billion purchase of the studio, apparently underperformed to the point that the game is being abandoned when it comes to deploying new content like seasons and expansions.
Bungie’s new game, the extraction shooter Marathon, has also not met expectations, and Bloomberg is reporting that layoffs are planned. This has further intensified the anger among players, many of whom are taking sides and turning it into Destiny vs. Marathon as opposed to anything else. Many feel that Destiny has been sacrificed so that Marathon could be pushed further.
Destiny fans are riled up, and I think rightfully so, that the game is coming to an end and there are apparently no plans for Destiny 3… yet. But with how loud they’re being about wanting it, I can’t help but wonder if it’s forcing some conversations to be had. Some are even slightly taking a small victory lap after how the chat was utterly hijacked, but I also think that it’s just too late.
“A lot of people have wondered why Bungie didn’t immediately start working on Destiny 3 after The Final Shape two years ago,” Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said. “The answer (as it usually is) is how much money it would take.”
Building an entirely new Destiny game would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and Sony is already a hole when it comes to the Bungie purchase. It’s quite a predicament, because I feel like if Destiny 3 were to happen, it would’ve had to have been planned for years now. A new Destiny game feels like way more of a sure-fire slam dunk when it comes to profits than a niche title like Marathon (however good it actually is) ever could be. But unfortunately, it feels moot.
I’m all for Destiny players yelling and screaming about not wanting the series to end. I have thousands of hours logged in the games, too, so I’m with them. But the fact is that if Sony felt the franchise was profitable, enough players were buying in-game items and playing every week, and Destiny 2 was showing signs of real life, then it probably wouldn’t be getting shuttered as we know it. Marathon clearly isn’t the answer the business side was hoping for, either, so it feels like some dark days are ahead.
Those Destiny fans rooting for Marathon’s failure are also quite self-destructive. Do people think Destiny 3 is going to happen if Marathon doesn’t turn things around and start bringing in money to both Bungie and Sony? That just kind of feels like you’re rooting for everything to burn.
It’s definitely a saddening time to be a Destiny fan. I have countless memories from the game, playing raids with friends, sweaty Trials of Osiris matches, diving deep into story campaigns, and everything in between. Players are now planning to log on to Destiny 2 en masse on June 9 to try and prove to Sony that it’s worth saving. Maybe it’ll happen, but I’m very uneasy about the idea, unless the numbers truly blow the suits out of the water.
I still hope that one day we do get Destiny 3 somehow, because while The Final Shape wrapped up the main story and could have easily been an overall ending point, the universe is rife with opportunity to expand in several areas. I just think it’s too late for this, and no amount of paracausal super energy can save it. I hope I’m wrong and that one day we’ll see that Guardians truly can make their own fate.
For now, I’ll be seeing everyone in the Tower next week for Monument of Triumph for one last (for now) hurrah.
