It is obviously incredible news that the Destiny series still has life in it, as it will get all its vaulted content returned and then future games will supposedly be made from there. However, I am seeing some people run a bit too far with the idea, believing that Destiny 2 is a bit more transformed than it’s going to be.

Destiny 2, despite more things being added to it, is not returning to being a live game. Nothing is changing at all until the unvaulting. Even during and after that, expectations should be set that it’s not going back into fully active development in any real way. This is not to say that nothing will ever be added to the game again, that’s perhaps still possible, but do not plan to get any “live” elements from here.

That includes things like seasonal and yearly activities, which many may deem as “flipping a switch,” but it’s more complicated than that and they are not returning. Nor should you expect the game to return to more frequent patches for balance issues that still persist. It will still be “emergencies only" the way it is now.

Bungie tells me that Monument of Triumph really was meant to be a true end-of-service update. Just because the franchise has a future, that does not mean Destiny 2 is significantly changing from where it is now, past the literal announcements we got.

You should be able to understand that unvaulting all content and then starting to work on new games is going to take a lot of Bungie’s limited resources, and frankly, we don’t even know where those are coming from now, even with Sony greenlights, given all the layoffs. There will simply not be a live team for the game going forward.

This also extends to much larger projects like finishing Shattered Cycle and releasing that (which was not as finished as many people think). It’s not going to happen. Don’t even expect more TWABs. GM Josh Deane has said that there will be more frequent communication about plans going forward, but no, we’re not going back to the weekly news drops.

And while this final point is not confirmed, it should not be assumed that unvaulted content will return with big updates like tiered weapons and armor with bonuses, or things like Legendary campaign difficulty. There is a difference between untangling the technical problems to get the unvaulting to happen at all and having a team work on things like tiers and new difficulties, which would require testing and balancing. We simply don’t know if Bungie has those resources, given everything else.

Perhaps if there’s a long gap between now and the unvaulting, that could happen, but again, we have to keep in mind the current state of Bungie and the scope of the new projects they’ve announced. Destiny 2 is becoming more complete, certainly, but the priority has to be a new game/games, which would clearly be all hands on deck.

I love Destiny 2, and still did right up until the last minute. But we are not going back to the way things were, and even now, things have fundamentally not changed with Destiny 2, and will not until the unvaulting. Even after that, expectations should be managed, as this is an investment in a long-term strategy, not an instant turnaround for a game that yes, will eventually be left behind.

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