Layoffs started (Destiny)

by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11:15 (2 hours, 28 minutes ago) @ Schooly D

D1 was received pretty poorly. There were groups angry because they wanted Bungie to make a new version of the franchise they were playing before and mad at the new thing for dooming the old thing. It was describes as being far too complex to have any mass appeal. There were media stories about the whole game needing to be scrapped last minute and re-built compromised and not having enough time to make a "full game". There was controversy about not keeping promises about what the game would be from earlier demos. There were pundits talking about how a huge tech company had given Bungie so much money that it would be the rope that hanged them.

You may have noticed I'm drawing some parallels. Nothing is exactly the same, and the difference in both the power of online malcontents and the absolute scale of the companies and finances involved obviously make it different.

As for comparing D1 to D2, I'm not even sure it's useful to try. The time scales are so different and Activision's role, and the number of players and even the fundamental vision of what the destiny franchise is and what it would mean for it to be successful all changes so very much over that decade plus. There are lots of stories about bad management at Bungie, and I'm not an expert (partly because most times I try to learn I end up reading a screed about "stolen" content and a rich guy buying sports cars), so I'll leave that part unanswered here.