Highlights
- Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn is leaving Bungie after completing the playtest for the final expansion, The Final Shape.
- This departure raises questions about the future of Destiny 2, as Bungie is transitioning to an episodic model and has not announced plans for a sequel.
- Bungie is working on other projects, such as the revival of Marathon and a new team-based action game, but Blackburn’s exit has caused concern in the community.
Destiny 2 game director, Joe Blackburn, has announced his decision to depart from Bungie. Blackburn will leave the company following the completion of the internal playtest of Destiny 2 The Final Shape expansion.
The Final Shape is the game’s last expansion, following which Destiny 2 will move from its seasonal model to an episodic model. This is an important shift considering Bungie hasn’t announced any plans for a sequel to Destiny 2, which puts the future of the series in question. The studio has teased several other projects being in the works, like the revival of Marathon, a new team-based action game, and an unnamed multiplayer title as well. However, the man behind Destiny 2’s most important expansion yet is on his way out following an internal playtest, which has caused quite a stir in the community.
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Destiny 2 Game Director Joe Blackburn is leaving Bungie
In a series of posts on Twitter, Joe Blackburn announced his decision to depart from Bungie after completing the “End-to-End playtest” for Destiny 2 The Final Shape, which kicks off in February 2024. Blackburn described this playtest as a critical internal milestone that “has been a key part of development since Forsaken.” Blackburn also notably mentioned having played multiple hours of the delayed Destiny 2 The Final Shape expansion, and claimed that it is one of his proudest achievements so far. Following his departure after the playtest, Tyson Green will assume the role of Destiny 2’s game director. Tyson is a Bungie veteran, having worked on Myth 2, Halo PvP, and was also the architect of Exotic Weapons in Destiny 1.
Bungie currently finds itself in the middle of a crisis, which was triggered by the community’s disappointment with the 2023 Lightfall expansion. It all went downhill from there as Destiny 2’s popularity took a notable hit. The situation worsened when Bungie announced that it was laying off around 100 members of its workforce, which also included some high-profile departures like music composer, Michael Salvatori. Amidst all the chaos, the departure of a key figure like Blackburn could affect Bungie significantly.
While Bungie prepares for a major transition, players can jump into Destiny 2’s new weekly missions called Wishes, which will award exotics, raid weapons, and more. Furthermore, Bungie will also introduce new content called “Into the Light” during the time leading up to the Final Shape to help ease the content drought.
Destiny 2
Bungie’s Destiny 2 is an online FPS that blends single-player and multiplayer content. Constantly evolving, the shooter has established a strong following since its 2017 debut.
- Expansions
- Destiny 2: Forsaken , Destiny 2: Shadowkeep , Destiny 2: Beyond Light , Destiny 2: The Witch Queen , Destiny 2: Lightfall
