Bungie, Activision.
By Tyler Petrosino.
In a recent earnings call, Activision said it was disappointed with the performance of destiny. Now if this was the first year of destiny 2 this would be a normal statement it released with mediocre fan reception. For a couple of reasons the performance and systems in place where more reminiscent of destiny 1 year 1 not a great year for destiny. but history loves repeating itself and over the years and months after the release, it improved upon itself. This has been the story for destiny 2 since its release mediocre at release and then with paid DLC improvement were made on ever system and mechanic in game making it an enjoyable experience for many people. Some would say that destiny 2 forsaken expansion is the best the game has been since the tail end of the first game that understandable its systems and mechanics in the game have only gotten better with small improvement to the story of the game. So the question begins to be why would Activision not be happy with the performance of destiny 2 when the game has been its best self for a couple of months now.
It’s in the engagement of the destiny 2 audiences. Look at the slide they release with the conference call the bottom circle is the part that bothers me “engagement drives recurring revenues and strong cash flow”. Don’t get me wrong I understand there a company that needs to make money and they have a responsibility to their investors to make them money. But my problem with this that the way they’re doing it is wrong and kind of scummy. They try to engage the audience which makes sense but also expecting them to pay for all the DLC to get an enjoyable game which after quick math. comes out to about $140 dollars through the year’s that’s a lot for a player to drop on a game. Then they expect the player to spend real-world money on a special currency to buy cosmetic items in their game. So to say that the game isn’t making them money would be just a ridiculous statement to make in general. With that in mind, let’s switch to the perspective of Bungie the people making the game and not Activision that publishes it. Bungie at the release of Destiny 1 was riding high off of Halo franchise having just sold that to Microsoft destiny was there next epic of a game. But a troubled development involving publisher interference and the loss of major talent within the studio destiny 1 was panned and criticized hard but again it improved throughout the years of its release. Bungie I don’t think is happy with the idea of destiny 2 and that statement of lack of engagement especially when they broke their backs and their reputation with gamers. When they tried and some would say failed to make a game that appealed to both hardcore games and casual alike. Whatever there next epic of a game is after destiny I doubt that it will be made with Activision as there publisher.
