Bungie’s 1 Decision Turns Disastrous, Leading to Low Player Engagement This Season

In the aftermath of The Final Shape‘s June 2024 release, Destiny 2 finds itself in a bit of a peculiar spot. While the expansion itself was a hit, bringing the Light and Darkness saga to its epic conclusion, recent player numbers paint a rather grim picture of the game’s current state.

Bungie’s shift from traditional seasons to the new Episode format was supposed to be a fresh start, a way to keep things exciting in the post-Final Shape era. But one particular decision in Episode Revenant has the community scratching their heads—and more importantly, reaching for other games in their library.

The controversy centers around a fundamental change to one of the game’s core systems, and let’s just say it’s gone about as well as trying to solo a Grandmaster Nightfall… with blue gear.

Destiny 2‘s Latest Change (Once Again) Sparks Community Backlash

The removal of seasonal weapon crafting from Episode Revenant‘s content lineup probably seemed like a good idea in some meeting room at Bungie HQ.  After all, the grind for red border patterns had been a point of contention in the community for some time. But as it turns out, sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease.

Steam charts tell a sobering story, with average player counts hovering around 32,000—a dramatic drop from the numbers seen during The Final Shape‘s launch. But raw numbers only tell part of the story:

Non craftable seasonal weapons makes its easier to just not even try anymore
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This isn’t just another case of the Destiny 2 community being, well, the Destiny 2 community. Without weapon crafting, many players find themselves logging in just long enough to speed-run the story content before moving on to other games. The weekly ritual of hunting for that perfect red border drop may have been tedious, but at least it gave players something to chase.

The veterans of the community, those who’ve stuck with the game through thick and thin, are particularly unimpressed with the current state of affairs:

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What makes this situation particularly interesting is how it fits into a broader pattern of recent decisions. Since the expansion’s release, the community has noticed a shift in how content and rewards are structured:

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One particularly spicy take manages to sum up the situation in just eight words:

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When your game’s core identity crisis can be summed up so briefly, it’s clear something needs to change.

The Evolution of Destiny 2 Post-Final Shape

The transition to Episodes was meant to herald a new era for the game, but the current situation raises some interesting questions about the future. Some players have started to wonder if this might be more than just a temporary slump:

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This raises some interesting questions about where we go from here. While The Final Shape successfully concluded its narrative arc, the game’s new content structure seems to be struggling to maintain player interest. The removal of weapon crafting, combined with other recent changes, has created what many describe as a perfect storm of diminishing returns.

The coming weeks will be crucial for Bungie. With player engagement at historic lows and community feedback growing increasingly critical, something’s got to give. The real question now isn’t just whether they’ll reverse course on weapon crafting, but how they’ll adapt their overall approach to keep players invested in the game’s future.

What’s your take on the current state of Destiny 2? Has the removal of weapon crafting affected how much time you spend in the game? Share your thoughts in the comments below!