Destiny 2 has been on the cards pretty much since the launch of the hugely successful original, and it seems that it will be coming out this August.
It seems that Activision has its eyes set on increasing the newcomers to the game, as the game is going to be targeted at bringing in new or lapsed players into the franchise. However, Activision were keen to point out that they would not be doing this at the expense of what makes Destiny an appealing game.
Activision exec Eric Hirshberg said: “The cornerstone of that is a great cinematic story. That’s been a real focus with a great cast of memorable, relatable characters, coupled with some very nice ways to make the game more accessible to a casual player, without losing anything that our core players love. We’ve made it more accessible to someone who just wants to have a great more casual first-person action experience.”
Of course, they will be making improvements on the Destiny formula, primarily in terms of the singleplayer. That was one of the main criticisms of Destiny when it originally released, but it was of course eventually saved by the Taken King expansion. It seems the guys behind the Taken King DLC will be at the helm of Destiny 2, so it seems chances are good the story will be a lot stronger.
It does seem, however, that Destiny 2 is facing similar development issues to the original as it was originally supposed to release last September. If it makes the August release window, it would have been delayed just short of a year.
The storytelling concerns aren’t the only ones that fans of the original will be facing, though. The main thing that Activision will have to improve if they want to bring lapsed players back to the franchise is improve the pricing structure for the game. I’m sure you all remember the controversy surrounding the price of The Taken King, and the pricing of DLC in general for the game. The issue wasn’t just as simple as it being too expensive, though.
The real problem was that if you wanted to buy The Taken King without rebuying the actual core game, your only option was to either cough up for the other DLC The Dark Below as well, or cough up $59 for the Legendary Edition of Destiny. Essentially with that option, you are rebuying the main game and the DLC, with no option just to buy The Taken King by itself. As insane as it sounds, that was actually the cheaper option on offer, as buying TTK and the expansion pass cost roughly $70.
This ludicrous pricing for the expansion content is something that needs to be addressed just as much as the problems with the game’s story, as it will be the main barrier to re-entry for people burned on the original game. Even for new players, being faced with that price in the future is going to be off-putting.
