Welcome back to the blog. It’s been a while.
We’re trying something new today, even if it feels a bit familiar. Since our “Next Chapter of Bungie” video and blog article, we’ve been thinking about ways to keep the conversation rolling. Maintaining a transparent heartbeat of updates with you all is pivotal for the success of our studio. As such, we’re spinning up a new “Bungie Community Update” blog to keep in touch as we head into the future.
To be clear, this isn’t going to become a weekly series like a TWID/TWAB. Rather, this will be a general space for us to give updates on our studio. Sometimes we’ll talk about Destiny, other times Marathon, and every so often we may just chat about general Bungie news that needs more space than a social media post. We want to make sure that whenever we speak with you there’s a human tone and a takeaway, so we’ll want to take appropriate amounts of time between entries to get you real, meaningful news. In other words: A Bungie Community Update is never late, nor is it early; it arrives precisely when it means to.
We're also exploring more ways to get you updates on the fly. Marathon side, we’ve started a string of Dev Insights leading into Symbiosis and the March Update. These take a bit of time to film and produce, so we’re also looking into smaller, more casual spaces to have discussions. Podcasts? Livestreams? AMAs? We’ve done many of these in the past, but we need to rebuild some bones to get them up to speed again. I could talk on and on about our comms pillars and how we’ll keep chatting as we move forward into the next chapter, but I know what you’re all here for. Video games. More specifically, Bungie video games.
For October, we’re moving forward with a mainstay of Bungie: A nice ol’ blog. Today we have Josh Deane (Head of Product) here to run through some Q&A about Destiny & Unvaulting, give some context on where the studio is at right now, and talk about what’s to come. Many thanks to all who’ve been sending questions our way over the last few weeks, we hope to cover many through the answers below.
Every End is a New Beginning
Welcome to the hot seat, Josh. To start, let’s set the stage. What are we focusing on today?
Josh: Well, if you can’t stand the heat...
I figure, let’s just have a conversation about where we’ve been and where we are on our new journey together. So, we’ll cover what ‘wholeness’ means for Destiny’s legacy, and how we’re working to reimagine Destiny’s future.
Most importantly, we need to talk about how we intend to rebuild a relationship with you all, not just simply announce a future for a cheap win.
To do that I think we have to rewind the clock a bit before Monument of Triumph heading into our end of service announcement for Destiny 2.
Rage Against the Dying of the Light
What was the experience like heading into Monument of Triumph and watching the community respond the way they did?
Josh: I think I’m not alone in saying the months leading into the end-of-service announcement for Destiny 2 were as difficult a time as we’ve ever experienced. I know personally, seeing a world that was a home to players and us about to be put in stasis, shrouded in darkness with an unknown future, knocked me out. Like many of you if you’re reading this, Destiny has been my shelter, but that is probably another story for another time.
Heck, there is also probably a future ‘Ted Talk’ about the complex journey that led to the moment of Destiny 2’s end of service announcement, but regardless of all the ‘whys’ it fails to take the sting out. It was really Poria [good friends' rule] who picked me up off the mat, and we made the decision as we took on new roles that no matter what challenges were left to overcome, Destiny, Marathon, and Bungie were going to be different going forward.
Dylan, you probably remember this like it was yesterday. It started by changing the opening of the Monument announcement and comms at the last minute. Regardless of how impossible, it was necessary for that moment to not be a funeral; it had to be a battle cry. Basically, light the beacons and hope Rohan would answer. And you all did.
You all didn’t just rage; you showed up. You shared your stories about your memories in Destiny, what the world meant to you and made sure to petition how disastrous it would be to walk away from this amazing universe. It inspired everyone.
dmg04: Oh, I remember. I will never forget. Seeing how players rallied after that End of Service announcement, how passionate they were... and how they’re still showing up daily asking about our shared future? It will live with me forever. They did not go gently...
Restoring Destiny and our First Step
Speaking of players asking questions... since the unvaulting announcement, we’ve seen healthy discussions and questions about the decision. Why are we starting with unvaulting?
Josh: I just don’t see how we could move forward with confidence without first repairing trust and making Destiny 2 ‘whole.’ Spoiler, I don’t see that wholeness intent just as unvaulting content; it means restoring Destiny’s past, present and future, but let’s start with unvaulting.
The vaulting of essential Destiny 2 content, even if based on some real technical challenges, was a moment that fragmented our experience and broke faith with our community. And strategically, as we incubate a new future for Destiny, we need to serve you all along the way with meaningful updates to our universe.
What are we starting with? In our "Next Chapter of Bungie" comms, we noted Campaigns, Destinations, and Raids specifically. What else is on the table?
Josh: Our first pass for unvaulting, available to all players, focuses on getting our campaign slate whole again. We're specifically targeting the activity content of Campaigns, Strikes, and Raids from vaulted expansions. Menagerie holds a special place in our hearts (and we've seen years of community requests for a return), so it will be a part of this pass as well:
- Red War, Forsaken, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind campaigns
- Strikes from the above releases
- Raids, and Raid Lairs from the above releases
- Menagerie Activity with reprised rewards
Beyond this first pass, we're also investigating content that we're defining as stretch goals at unvaulting launch or after. For example, we know aspirational content like legacy Raids needs a deeper chase even if we may not able to address it upfront. As we get closer to unvaulting we’ll be able to provide stronger insight into these areas:
- Free Roam Destinations (Public Events, Lost Sectors, Escalation Protocol, etc.)
- Seasonal Activities from Sundial (Season 9) to The Coil (Season 23)
- Raid and Raid Lair Weapon updates
- PvP Maps
Our final section currently does not have a path to update either for technical and/or strategic reasons. As we're looking to build the future of Destiny, we need to find balance. While we'd love to bring back some additional activities, or refresh things like our New Light experience, it could come at a cost for what we want to build for you in the future:
- Updated New Light Experience
- Seasonal Story Missions
- Gambit Map (Kell's Grave)
- Seasonal Hubs (e.g., Eliksni Quarter)
Many have been asking how long this will take. What's the current status? Many have been asking where we're at terms of a timeline.
Josh: Where are we? Let’s talk about that progress bar.
- In June, we secured our initial greenlight to begin scoping the work, validating we could do it and finding a partner to help us make it real.
- In September, we validated our assumptions and then raced to tell you all.
- Right now, we are in our pre-production, proof-of-work stage where we will ensure the process is working and hitting our quality bar as we port the legacy content.
- We expect this part of the process to last until roughly January/February.
- From that point we expect full production will be about 12mos. to fully complete the porting process. It’s a lot of content.
What’s next?
In the Next Chapter of Bungie video, you mentioned that we’re “not done with Destiny” - what more is on the horizon?
Josh: Ok, this is the part of the conversation where I need to start talking about intent, even when knowing some things are subject to change in success or failure. Similar to June, when we aligned our initial greenlight with Destiny 2 unvaulting and fully greenlit the project in September, we’ve also aligned a new vision and plans for Destiny all up that we are actively working on making a reality.
We are marching forward with a phased plan for Destiny’s future that celebrates our legacy and propels us into a new, far green country.
These are our anchors to look for and what will become future progress bars when we’re successful:
- Destiny 2 “Celebration’’ [Expect a new February Progress bar]
- We believe we need to have a celebration in Destiny 2, beyond Monument of Triumph, for the community that provides new updates for you all to enjoy. More details to come!
- Destiny ‘Legacy’ [Expect a new February Progress bar]
- Our epic journey started over a decade ago, and the whole experience needs to be served to you all where you play today. Expect more information when we come back to you all early next year.
- Redacted [TBD]
- Launch Ventrilo Message: ‘We’re back’
Once we get through this incubation, validation process, we’ll have earned the right to make the announcements you all deserve. And if not, exile. I’ll be a good high school football coach somewhere.
dmg04: Ah, [REDACTED]. Always love when we use that. As for the progress bars, these differ a bit from roadmaps – more general and high level, but we'll still be planning to provide updates on the status of each project as information becomes available. As we continue to build trust with the community in our future, transparency is key. And the promise of these progress bars is one we intend to keep.
The Future and what to expect
With our unvaulting initiative serving as a form of incubation for Bungie, how exactly does this process work?
Josh: I think before we close it’s important to know that this is a true reset moment for Bungie, Marathon, and Destiny. We also know time isn’t our friend; we’re playing from behind with the cards we have and I’m sure we’ll have to take more punches and make some hard decisions along the way.
Let’s talk a bit about the process more and why it’s not simply, just put all of your resources right here, right now.
Going to be overly reductive, but this is a simple rule; the wider the innovation, the new frontiers to explore, the smaller a team needs to be early on in a project. You have to spend time in discovery, concepting, research and development, scoping, and feasibility analysis before you scale. Forcing a large team into this kind of process creates chaos and crushes it from a production perspective. In success, you have a project that has gone through this process and is ready to scale by the time we're able to holistically allocate resources to it.
Now, the ‘opposite’ is true in well-defined or clearly benchmarked spaces. For example, if we were doing something in Destiny 1 or 2, we can work at speed with different sized teams and partnerships because we have clear boundaries on how to accomplish our goals and understand our resource constraints. The challenge is here that your opportunity cost and overall ceiling of a project may not allow you to bring all the resources to bear that you would like. TLDR: The constraints may be tighter.
Knowing both of the above states are true in our current world is the puzzle we’re working through for how we get to our end game, a new, forever Destiny, while rebuilding a relationship with a vibrant community along the way.
So, knowing we are early in incubating our future and actively working on projects to bridge us to that new home, don’t expect us to make a Destiny announcement at the TGA’s this year, or to randomly drop a logo that sets the world on fire right away.
We get there when we get there.
See you again soon.
Well, it’s pretty clear we have a lot to get done over the next few months. Any parting thoughts you’d like to share with players before tackling the next challenge of the day?
Josh: I think the main thing we should all be on the same page on is we have a steep mountain to climb. The challenges we face are real to forge a new path for Bungie. Its never been more important for our community to keep talking to us, to keep sharing your passion (and critiques) and to build each other up as one community.
At a high level though, the key things to remember today:
- We’re on track for unvaulting Destiny 2 content
- We’re planning more for us to celebrate within the Destiny you know today
- We are aligned and are building a new future for Destiny
- Targeting February for our next major comms update [we’ll share unvaulting progress along the way]
I'll stop rambling shortly. I think my last note is something really close to my heart, especially as I exist in both worlds.
The Destiny and Marathon communities need to heal.
We're not going to forget the mistakes of the past, but it's time to learn from them and unify as one Bungie community. For us, the majority of our Bungie team is legacy Destiny, and we will all tell you that nothing can help bridge us into future more than for Marathon to rapidly evolve and become sustainable. As we head into our December and March updates for Marathon, it’s a formative period for all of us here at Bungie that will help determine the shape of our future, so please encourage each other and know that your support gives our team the energy to finish the fight.
We Shall Rise...
It's an exciting time for us as we're preparing Marathon: Symbiosis for launch in December while exploring the future of Destiny, all starting with our unvaulting initiative. As Josh mentioned, progress bar updates will come as they're ready, and we're planning our next major comms beat regarding Destiny for February.
As for Marathon, expect our next Dev Insight to land in early December. We’re actually in the middle of filming more interviews about Symbiosis this week. It’s always a fun time hopping in builds to see how things are coming together, not to mention playtesting the upcoming experimental PvP mode. We’ll have some fun things to talk about in November, so stay tuned...
As always, thanks for stopping by. We’ll see you again soon.
Cheers,
-dmg04
*EDITORS NOTE: THIS DOCUMENT IS LOCKED
FOR ANY REQUESTED CHANGES, PLEASE CONTACT DYLAN GAFNER
