Bungie’s recent surprise layoffs really shook the company to its core. As a result, The Final Shape expansion and likely future episodes have been delayed by four months. The latest roadmap Bungie released is no longer relevant, so we’ll need to explore what they could do when they are ready.
In one of the most turbulent times for Destiny 2, next year’s new content needs to bring some confidence and joy back to the playerbase. Let’s explore 10 things Destiny 2’s next roadmap needs above all else.
Less Structure and More Surprises
Previous Destiny 2 roadmaps would have every little thing detailed about each season and each patch within each season. Even so, that still created expectations, as players could read the roadmap and be disappointed because there’s nothing else they could reasonably hope for.
In 2024, Destiny 2’s next roadmap shouldn’t explicitly detail every bit of new content. Bungie should keep it vague and broad on purpose and surprise the players with new content, systems, and modes that they’ve normally wouldn’t expect!
This may be especially helpful for the devs comprising post-layoff Bungie, as they likely don’t want to immediately dive headfirst into heavy and strictly outlined content production.
FREE Dungeons
Not one, but two Dungeons in close succession or at once would be something the community could really rally behind. Especially if each would be free for all players to enjoy. I don’t know about you, but I would take two to three new Destiny 2 Dungeons each Season or Episode over a milk-toast series of unchallenging, repetitive, checklist story quests.
To me, the stories contained within each Season could and should be made into sprawling Dungeons. I like this because players re-run Dungeons all the time, but you don’t see players showing that same enthusiasm for seasonal questlines or non-exotic missions. Look me straight in the eye and tell me 9 to 12 new Dungeons a year doesn’t sound amazing.
Granted, this suggestion is a long-shot for current Bungie, but that’s okay. I’d even take four new Dungeons a year at this point, and most other players likely feel the same.
New Fragments or Aspects for Every Subclass
Part of what makes Destiny 2 so replayable are the amount of builds a player can discover between subclasses, gear, and Exotics. By this logic, a solid stream of new build opportunities via new Fragments or a new Aspect for every class and subclass could help with player retention.
I’m not saying Bungie needs to deliver new Fragments AND Aspects for every subclass every Season, because that would be a tall order on top of everything else. So, instead of a new Season giving a ton of love to this or that subclass, why not give a little love to all of them? People like inclusiveness, and the Stasis Titan that only plays one or two Seasons a year may want to play more often if he has more to work with.
Given what’s happened to Bungie this year, It would be okay for them to slowly work up to this suggestion.
New Class Abilities and Jumps
While it’s fun to tinker with the intricate details of a build with subclass Fragments and armor mods, adding more to each base class could be exciting too. Think about it: Aside from the addition of blink and some subclass reworks, new class abilities and jumps haven’t really been a thing. Seeing new base abilities and movement options on a roadmap might help the community feel like Destiny 2 can keep going after such a tough year for the developers.
With these new class options being free for all players, it could be easy to build some hype and good will amongst new and returning players on the fence. This would be especially true if the new jumps and class abilities synergized with player builds in ways the other options haven’t. For example: A new Titan jump that is essentially a medium-sized explosion that propels the Titan in a semi-random direction while anyone caught in the blast suffers from a few ticks of Scorch would be a huge draw.
A Complete Gambit Rework
I could definitely foresee the Destiny community warming at the sight of a complete Gambit rework with renewed support.
All it would take is some fresh eyes and talent and a bit of risk, with the result being something players would be likely quite eager for. Like, what if they turned Gambit into a mode that was slower and larger, with a more direct focus on the PvP within the PvEvP designs? It wouldn’t have to be an extraction shooter, but rather something that could be reminiscent of it. That would certainly be interesting and enticing to see on a future roadmap.
That said, this is a tall order, and would likely take a lot of time to accomplish. Even a single new Gambit map with a few new guns with original Origin Traits would be excellent.
More Strikes and More Crucible Maps
Bungie desperately needs to move away from the current trend of releasing one to two new Strikes and Crucible maps per year.
For being labeled as Core Modes, these are woefully underdeveloped and are severely lacking in constant iteration, especially given that they serve as Destiny 2’s backbone. considering Bungie’s turbulent development process lately, this could be forgivable if they can eventually work up to delivering a renewed focus on Core modes in 2025.
Additionally, the new Strikes and new maps need to visually be a slow but constant drip on future roadmaps to make people feel like it’s all being consistently supported. It can feel pretty bad to spend so much money on expansions and seasons only for there to be one or two new Strikes and Crucible maps throughout the year.
Finally, updating older Strikes or un-vaulting the oldest Strikes with new encounters, bosses, and voice work that reflects the changes in Destiny 2’s overarching story could go a long way to satisfying player content fatigue.
Refresh and Streamline Monetization for New Players
This right here is the instant-mashed-potatoes-way to garner some good faith. Because right now, the number one issue the Destiny 2 community has is the way the game’s monetized—especially on Steam. It’s just too much.
This is especially true for someone trying to break into the game. As a new player, you’ll go onto Steam and see hundreds of dollar’s worth of DLC expansions you’ll think you’ll need to buy to have the complete experience.
When they are ready, what Bungie could do is make some of the older expansions free for newer players. Furthermore, a refresh of Destiny 2’s various bundles to be easier to understand and navigate could help players better understand when to buy a given expansion, increasing the game’s revenue in these troubling times as a result.
More Meaningful Mid-Season Events with Greater Variety
The mid-season holiday events go a long way toward making Guardians feel connected to the game’s world and community. However, the events themselves tend to fall a little flat with an over emphasis on Event passes that usually fail to raise Guardian’s holiday spirits.
More events like last year’s Dawning event, which saw throwable snowballs in almost every mode, is a more viable direction Bungie can take with upcoming events. Maybe next year’s Festival of the Lost could give everyone temporary bat companion throwables that do damage and disorient.
An additional good move Bungie could make with these events is to use them to raise money for righteous causes or charities; much like how Warframe has special customization items that raise awareness for cancer-fighting initiatives.
More New Features and Systems
One thing I would argue is that for Destiny 2 to grow, or at least feel like its growing, it needs new, interactable features and systems.
This isn’t even something that would be new to the game. Not that long ago, we got Fishing with Season of the Deep, and it provided a new feature with new systems and ways for players to interact with the worlds of Destiny 2. It helped build and maintain player immersion, all while breaking away from the usual content players had come to expect.
Additionally, offering new mechanics that help Destiny 2 feel fresh would be a surefire way to help retain players; which, considering recent developments, is something I’m sure Bungie would very much like to do.
A Way for Players to be Creative in Destiny 2
Some of the best games out there aren’t just made with lots of great developer-made content. They include ways for players to add to the game world they like spending time in.
This can usually be seen in the form of map makers, and to a lesser degree, player-made character customization, and is especially true when that player-created content has systems in place that allow other players to enjoy it as well.
I’d bet my gaming laptop that there would have been much less backlash around the lack of new Gambit or Crucible maps if players had the tools to make and integrate their own. I know a Forge-like mode for Destiny 2 isn’t something Bungie can easily or quickly make. However, an out-of-game gun or armor maker where Bungie would choose the best 10 or 20 player creations to be added to loot pools in every season would drive player engagement (and be really freaking cool besides).
Something like that would make less work for them too, which would help reduce overhead development costs and the overall development burden on the team behind the game — a win/win if ever there was one.
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