Developer Bungie has announced “significant adjustments” for Destiny 2 to win back players during difficult times for the company.
According to Bungie, the live service first-person shooter, which is presently seeing its lowest concurrent player count ever on the PC platform Steam, will be implementing a new strategy going ahead that will see the release of four significant free content updates and two medium-sized expansions per year.
Through a new multi-year saga, the introduction of a non-linear tale, greater structural innovation, and notable enhancements to basic game activities and rewards, Bungie stated that this development intends to improve the player experience.
Codename Apollo, a nonlinear character-driven adventure scheduled for release in the summer of 2025, will be the first expansion under this new concept. Codename Behemoth is the winter 2025 expansion; the spring 2026 release of the fourth major update in the 12 months that follow the release of Codename Apollo is scheduled. There are new dungeons, raids, weapons, gear, locales, stories, and missions in every expansion.
The announcement comes after rumors and discontent in the Destiny community regarding Bungie’s plans for the game. When the Sony-owned company revealed in late July that it would lay off 220 employees and that an additional 155 employees would be moving from Bungie to Sony Interactive Entertainment in the upcoming months, uncertainty increased. That meant that the developer had about 850 workers left.
Controversial studio boss Pete Parsons stated, “I recognize all of this is terrible news, especially considering the success we have achieved with The Final Shape.” “However, after pursuing every alternative kind of mitigation, and navigating the more general economic realities over the past year, it has become imperative that we refocus our studio and business with more realistic aims and viable financials.”
Subsequently, Bloomberg revealed that Bungie would shift its focus from major expansions to smaller, possibly free updates for Destiny 2. According to reports, Bungie has abandoned the Payback Destiny offshoot project and has no plans for Destiny 3. Its Marathon resurrection is reportedly still in the planning stages.
