Ahead of Bungie’s Destiny 2 showcase next week highlighting the upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, Destiny 2 Director Joe Blackburn has responded directly to players after a poorly received State of the Game update.
Blackburn posted a 16-minute video to Twitter, apologizing for the State of the Game, he said wasn’t “up to our standards for what you all expect of those kinds of communications.” Posted on August 3rd, State of the Game which is a roadmap of updates coming to the live-service shooter title, disappointed fans all around. Players were furious primarily at PvP which in Destiny 2 is seen as being left out to die, along with another mode Gambit which hasn’t received any substantial updates.
In Blackburn’s Twitter video, he reiterated his and the devs at Bungie commitment to PvP modes. Previously, the developer stated that making more than one map and designing armor took a hefty amount of resources that they don’t currently have. However, in Blackburn’s video, he promised that a “map pack” will be coming free to players in the upcoming seasons, instead of one or two maps per year. Blackburn also said that there will now be armor sets from Season 22 made available free to all players— which could be seen more as damage control in the state of things.
Blackburn also offered some of what players can expect next week during the Destiny 2 showcase for The Final Shape. He reiterated that players won’t see any major changes to current systems, rather that it’s intended for a wider player base. As well, Xur will be getting a major update in the next expansion. Blackburn promised that communications from Bungie directly to fans will become an improvement over the coming months, ahead of the next expansion. Transparency between the devs to the player base may help alleviate what’s been years of on-and-off turmoil for a tumultuous live service title.
Destiny 2 showcase for The Final Shape will premiere next week August 22nd starting at 9 am PT, with an 8 am pre-show.