‘Destiny 2’ Rumored Delayed Until ‘Early 2017’: Fans Frustrated By Lack Of Communication

The Destiny series by Bungie may not even survive until its rumored new release date; according to a report from CinemaBlend, the sequel to the smash hit online shooter, Destiny 2, has been pushed back to “early 2017.”

That’s not good news for publisher Activision, considering that fans are reportedly already fed up with the recent lack of new content.

As Kotaku reports, while Destiny has not been completely static, no significant new content has been released since the September 2015 release of expansion The Taken King, on which The Inquisitr has previously reported. Activision had already come under fire at the time of The Taken King‘s release, drawing ire for locking players who didn’t purchase the $40 USD upgrade out of content they had previously had access to. One reviewer called Destiny: The Taken King “pay to play or go away,” while another placed the expansion at the top of a list of games that “should be considered scams.”

It’s telling that, since the release of Destiny: The Taken King, no major updates have been released, paid or otherwise. Destiny switched from an expansion model to a microtransaction model, which was likely to benefit them long-term, but additions to the game since have been relatively insignificant.

Now, taking the time to focus on developing Destiny‘s successor isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own. One year from a major expansion to a brand new game isn’t a terrible transition time; even industry giant Blizzard (itself a part of Activision) takes a significant amount of time off from creating new content before a new expansion for World of Warcraft is released. But a year is pushing the boundary of player patience at best, and as the release date gets further away, more players are going to jump ship without a compelling reason to stick around.

The most recent additions to Destiny, as Kotaku notes, were a festival and a racing competition — neither of which included new strikes, raids, or explorable areas, the content players actually care about.

The biggest problem Destiny is going to face, though, is Bungie’s own tight-lipped policy regarding the game. The September 2016 release date wasn’t official; it was pulled from 2012 documents revealed in a recent court case, as GameSpot reports. Unfortunately, with Bungie not talking, it’s the only reassurance fans have had that a sequel is on the way at all. and that reassurance is an important part of keeping fans dedicated.

According to the rumors, anonymous sources reported that Destiny 2 was delayed by higher-ups at the studio; the same higher-ups who haven’t been keeping fans up-to-date. And when you’re frustrating your own employees enough to go to the media, it’s probably time to consider some damage control, before you alienate everyone. Rumor has it that even internally, Bungie is rife with instances of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing; Kotaku‘s sources indicated that as of the time that their article was published, not everyone within Bungie was aware of the delay.

Up until recently, Bungie had plans for annual releases in the Destiny franchise, switching off between major expansions and new games; not that different from how Blizzard works. Although Blizzard keeps publishing expansions to the same game, they aim for annual release, and each is nearly a new, self-contained game within the game world.

Now, that plan, which was never formally announced, has been broken – which was also never formally announced. Fans are starting to feel frustrated by Bungie’s lack of communication and, like it or not, are starting to question the future of Destiny and contemplating, with a slew of new releases available, whether their own destiny lies elsewhere.

[Image via Bungie/Activision]