It’s no secret to the gaming community that Destiny 2 has had its ups and downs as a game, but its newest Edge of Fate DLC will be an indicator of how the next saga in the Destiny story will shape up. Bungie has had a hard time managing Destiny for the past few years, and season after season of fluctuating player counts and inconsistent gameplay quality have left fans skeptical of its future. While Edge of Fate isn’t make-or-break for the game’s continued existence, it will determine whether or not this next chunk of Destiny‘s future gets started on the right foot.
Inconsistent Player Counts Mark a Wavering Fanbase
Destiny has been in production for over ten years, with the original game releasing in September of 2014. Over that time period, player interest in the game has varied pretty heavily. According to SteamCharts, D2‘s player numbers peaked at 316,651 in February of 2023 when Lightfall was released, and have gone down in increasing numbers since then. Though the player count almost reached that peak again with The Final Shape‘s release, those interested would mark Lightfall as the beginning of the end of hope for Destiny 2’s future.
The biggest disappointment with Lightfall was its writing—with fumbled pacing and characters that just didn’t hit home, many players struggled to understand what the point of the story was when it was delivered in such an awkward manner. This caused a sharp downtick in player numbers that usually doesn’t occur; while player numbers tend to go down after DLC releases, it usually happens over a span of a few months rather than the month right after a release. It also introduced Root of Nightmares, which is one of the easiest and least interesting raids in D2, further lowering player engagement over the year following Lightfall‘s release.
Lightfall disappointed fans in a lot of ways, and though The Final Shape has brought back a bit of faith in Bungie’s ability to make a good game, experimental seasonal content that did very little to encourage consistent playtime has made the game feel stale for players looking for something new to do. On top of the issue of retaining players, onboarding new players to a game and story that’s been running for almost ten years isn’t something that the team at Bungie has found a way to solve.
Bungie is Making Big Swings
Never let it be said that the Destiny 2 team is afraid of change. They’re making big changes to some of the core systems of the game including armor, weapons, player power, and more. Changes like these aren’t uncommon, with past DLCs introducing overhauls to mods, armor, and other core systems, but the downscaling of player power has a lot of players disgruntled.
One of the things many veteran players enjoy about Destiny is the power fantasy, and being reduced to 10 power from over 2000 is a pretty large jump. Though enemy health and activity difficulty are being scaled with this change, it’s still a brave swing to make that’s good for the overall health of the game. Power creep kills PvE and PvP alike, and maintaining a healthy sandbox not only makes balancing the game easier for devs, it also allows new players to more easily jump in to activities with their veteran friends. D2 devs know that they have to make big decisions in order to keep the game alive for another ten years, and Edge of Fate will demonstrate whether or not those decisions pay off.
Edge of Fate is a Fresh Start for Destiny
While the Destiny team is no stranger to releasing DLCs, Edge of Fate is supposed to be different. With revamped menus, a new player-onboarding process, and more open campaign mode, Edge of Fate seeks to be a Destiny story that’s engaging for everyone, even those players who aren’t caught up on ten years of intricate lore. In order for the Destiny franchise to even have a chance at lasting another ten years, it’s essential that the team at Bungie gets this right.
New players are the lifeblood of longstanding games; as veteran players lose interest and move on, keeping the game interesting and accessible to casually interested newcomers is necessary to keep any live-service game afloat, and D2 is no exception. There simply aren’t enough die-hard fans willing to pay for DLCs, no matter their quality, so Bungie cannot and must not rest on its laurels of past success.
Instead, they have to keep innovating and listening to player feedback in order to keep Destiny alive. Edge of Fate is the perfect time for them to prove not only that they’re committed to refreshing and renewing the game that so many love, but also that they’re not afraid to take the risks necessary to make a game that speaks to players and keeps them coming back for more.
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