In a surprising announcement, Destiny 2’s game director Joe Blackburn revealed he will be leaving Bungie after completing an internal playtest of the upcoming The Final Shape expansion.
This departure marks the end of an era for Destiny 2, as Blackburn has been instrumental in shaping the game’s narrative and expansion content since the acclaimed Forsaken DLC.
Joe Blackburn Leaving Bungie
Blackburn broke the news over a series of tweets, explaining that The Final Shape’s end-to-end playtest in February 2024 will be his final milestone with the studio.
He described this internal playtest as a critical process that has been a consistent part of Destiny’s development cycle since the Forsaken days.
After playing through multiple hours of Final Shape expansion himself, Blackburn stated it is one of his proudest achievements so far.
With Blackburn’s exit, Tyson Green will take over as Destiny 2’s new game director.
Green is a Bungie veteran who has worked on several of the studio’s titles including Myth 2, the Halo PvP experience, and was the original architect of exotic weapons in Destiny 1.
This transition in leadership comes at a turbulent time for Destiny 2, with the recent Lightfall expansion drawing criticism from players for a lack of meaningful content.
The Community’s Reaction to Blackburn’s Departure
Across social media and Reddit, Destiny 2 players have expressed shock at Blackburn’s announcement.
As the creative force behind fan-favorite expansions like Forsaken and Beyond Light, Blackburn has garnered much goodwill amongst the hardcore Destiny community.
But, The 2023 Lightfall expansion failed to meet community expectations, triggering a downward spiral of waning interest in the game.
Things only got worse when Bungie laid off around 100 employees, including prominent figures like composer Michael Salvatori.
Some fans are attributing Blackburn’s exit to possible tensions resulting from the layoffs and failure of Lightfall.
Others believe Blackburn is simply ready to move on to new challenges, having steered Destiny 2 through multiple successful expansions already.
The Future of Destiny 3?
However, Blackburn reassured fans that The Final Shape is shaping up to be one of his proudest achievements yet.
The Final Shape will conclude the game’s current saga focused on the Pyramids and Light and Darkness.
After that, Bungie plans to transition Destiny 2 from a seasonal model to an episodic structure.
This new approach is crucial since Bungie hasn’t announced plans for a Destiny 3 sequel.
The studio seems focused on diversifying its portfolio with the return of Marathon, a team-based action game, and an unannounced multiplayer title.
But where exactly does that leave the future of Destiny?
While these questions loom, players can still enjoy new weekly missions called Wishes that reward exotics and raid gear.
Bungie also plans to drop limited-time content called “Into the Light” leading up to The Final Shape release.
For now, veterans must place their faith in Tyson Green, a Bungie veteran who helped build the original Destiny’s exotic arsenal and multiplayer modes.
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