Despite the various hiccups it encountered during the development of Destiny, Bungie’s first project after parting ways with Microsoft ultimately became a hit with shooter and sci-fi fans the world over, but it didn’t reach retail without its fair share of criticism. Besides a seemingly fractured and disjointed narrative, what became most apparent, following the new IP’s release, was a noticeable lack of activities at end-game.
Given its nature as a quasi-MMO/shooter hybrid, keeping Guardians’ lust for new content satiated was always going to be a continual process, but Bungie wasn’t always able to keep up with demand. Limited-time events such as The Dawning and Festival of the Lost, while welcome, did little to keep returning players hooked in the droughts bookending expansions like The Taken King and Rise of Iron, but that’s all going to change for Destiny 2, according to Activision.
Speaking to GamesIndustry, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg recognized the long periods of quiet between Destiny‘s major expansions as one of its major problems and one that he wasn’t altogether happy with.
I have not been happy with the cadence [of new content]. We got a lot right with Destiny 1, but one of the things we didn’t do was keep up with the demand for new content. I feel like that, as great as [DLC packs] The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King and Rise of Iron all are, clearly there was appetite for more.
To remedy that niggle, Activision has brought in other internal studios to help reduce Bungie’s workload and increase the frequency of new content updates. Both Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios, Hirshberg says, will allow the team to “keep an even more robust pipeline of content in the ecosystem,” at any given time.
One of the things you’ll see post the launch of Destiny 2, is that we have got additional AAA developers from inside the Activision ecosystem working with Bungie on Destiny content, including Vicarious Visions and High Moon. That will allow us to keep an even more robust pipeline of content in the ecosystem.
Hirshberg, it seems, certainly isn’t averse to recognizing the original Destiny‘s flaws, and given the extra manpower already hard at work on Destiny 2 and what lies beyond its initial release, I can’t help but be excited for what’s to come. It remains to be seen how effectively the three studios can work together in unison, but a promising start this certainly is.
Destiny 2 is out September 6 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with two expansions already confirmed for release at a later date. See all the details here.