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Destiny game director Luke Smith talks short- and long-term vision for the rocky franchise

By Matthew Liebl

Bungie
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In the aftermath of Bungie’s breakup from Activision, Destiny game director offered a glimmer of hope for the future of the troubled franchise.

Destiny game director Luke Smith had an interesting response when it was first announced that Bungie is splitting from Activision and taking with them the publishing rights to their beloved sci-fi shooter. He had a more cordial statement in Bungie’s official weekly update – one that promised a “bright future” for Destiny.

After making peace with Activision and thanking the publisher for helping launch what has become a massive franchise in Destiny, Smith quickly turned to the future of the franchise.

Obviously, Bungie will remain committed to Destiny which hasn’t quite been the game that many envisioned when it was first announced over five years ago. While vague in details, Smith assured fans that the studio will continue to develop content for Destiny 2‘s Annual Pass, while also “envisioning future experiences, enemies, and ways to play the Guardian you’ve been building since 2014.”

Exactly what that means remains to be seen, though. Smith said that the team learned a lot from the recent Black Armory expansion that released back in December and that they’ll apply these lessons to future releases. More specifically, he offered:

"“In Black Armory, we set the Power requirement for the first forge too high, and that meant it wasn’t a great chance to jump into some new content. We want to find the line between new content that many players can play, and aspirational content for players to progress toward. We’re exploring improvements to catch-up mechanics for players in upcoming seasons.”"

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For many, though, Destiny 2 is a long-forgotten disappointment. It’ll be tough for Bungie to bring back players who have since moved on to greener pastures – especially with even more competition releasing in the next few months (Anthem and The Division 2, mainly).

Updates to Destiny 2, regardless of how much they improve, likely aren’t going to draw a significant amount of players back. Bungie is better off starting from scratch and really delivering on the promise they set forth back in 2014. I’m talking about a full-fledged threequel.

Smith wouldn’t reveal what Bungie’s long-term plans for Destiny are, but here’s what he did offer fans:

"Long-term, Bungie is committed to Destiny. We created the universe and we hold its future entirely in our hands. The vast majority of the team is hard at work envisioning future experiences, enemies, and ways to play the Guardian you’ve been building since 2014. We’re going to keep doing that.It was a busy Fall, and it is going to be a busy year.When I look ahead and think about Destiny and where it could go, I see a bright future, with roots in a memorable past. Not everything has been lost in the dark corners of time."

It’s not much, but it’s something to look forward to. If the future of Destiny is another game, and I truly believe that will be the case, then it’ll be interesting to see what Bungie can come up with when not pressured to meet Activision’s tight, annualized schedule. I’m hoping the studio has truly learned from its mistakes and will build a fully-fleshed out universe that is capable of expanding with proper add-ons and not nickel-and-dime DLC packages.

Only time will tell, but finally, there’s some light when it comes to Destiny.

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