‘Destiny 2’ Expansions Have Been Worked On For Almost A Year Already, And That’s A Good Thing


Destiny 2 has two expansions on the way after launch, and Bungie is not wasting time. A developer’s LinkedIn account shows work on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC shooter’s DLC packs started at least late last year. While gamers have often complained of developers working on paid expansions before a game is launched, this is a good thing in this case.

The LinkedIn account for Bungie’s Dan Miller shows an impressive work history going back to Monolith Productions in 1999, before moving on to Bungie in 2005 as a Designer with work on Destiny 1 and three expansions – The Dark Below, The Taken King, and Rise of Iron. However, it’s the Creative Lead position he took in October 2016 that is most interesting as it shows he is working on the Destiny 2 expansion.

There are two expansions currently planned for Destiny 2. Bungie hasn’t officially announced their content yet, but the artwork shared by Bungie promoting the expansion pass indicates the first will deal with Osiris and the second with Rasputin, the Warmind.

Release dates for the expansions have not been announced. However, Destiny 1‘s initial winter and spring expansion schedule is most probable.

[Image by LinkedIn / Bungie]

Yes, this is a good thing

Should it be surprising that Bungie is working on expansions for Destiny 2 prior to release? No, not really. The nature of game development means many of the hundreds of developers at the studio and its partners will eventually not have any content or code to work on in the main game. So, they move on to the next project, which is the expansions in this case.

Despite the usual complaints of DLC content being worked on before a game launches, this is actually good news for Destiny 2 fans. It shows much more forethought and planning for the sequel. Recall that Bungie’s original Destiny 1 plans were scrapped, and the game was built from the remaining pieces. This largely contributed to the complaints about the lack of a story.

However, the rush to get Destiny 1 out also had deleterious effects on the expansions. The first DLC, The Dark Below, was criticized for being light on content and buggy, plus full of exploits and other issues. Then the plans for a raid in the second DLC, House of Wolves, was scrapped while it also was criticized for the lack of content.

‘Destiny 2’ expansion artwork points to Osiris and Rasputin. [Image by Bungie / Activision]

The issues with the first two Destiny 1 expansions combined with reported development tool problems led to Bungie tossing its original DLC plans. This left the player base with huge gaps of time between the release of The Taken King and Rise of Iron, with only small events to serve as filler, which even made Activision CEO Eric Hirschberg unhappy.

“I have not been happy with the cadence [of new content],” Hirschberg told GameIndustry.biz in an interview earlier this month.

“We got a lot right with Destiny 1, but one of the things we didn’t do was keep up with the demand for new content. I feel like that, as great as [DLC packs] The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King and Rise of Iron all are, clearly there was appetite for more. One of the things you’ll see post the launch of Destiny 2, is that we have got additional AAA developers from inside the Activision ecosystem working with Bungie on Destiny content, including Vicarious Visions and High Moon. That will allow us to keep an even more robust pipeline of content in the ecosystem.”

The fact that the first Destiny 2 expansion will have more than a year of development lead time when it releases is great news, considering the Destiny 1 history. Bungie has the opportunity to provide significant content and complete end-game activities, which they couldn’t do with the first game.

[Featured Image by Bungie / Activision]

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