In early 2019, Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2, separated from Activision, the major publisher. However, what once brought cheers now looks quite different for many Guardians almost a year later. What about you? Do you miss Activision?
What is the reason for the separation? In January 2019, Bungie made headlines in the gaming industry by announcing the separation from the then publisher Activision.
In doing so, the rights to the Destiny franchise completely went to the studio from Seattle. Bungie took the reins and has since held the future of the Destiny series in its own hands.
This was the mood back then: The separation was celebrated by many. Numerous players and fans rejoiced at the divorce, as Activision symbolized for many “the evil”, the big boss, who prevented Bungie from implementing its own vision of Destiny 2. In short: The publisher was at least partially blamed for virtually every design flaw in the game.
After the separation, many Guardians felt a sense of new beginnings. Now it could only get better with Destiny 2, or so numerous fans claimed. While there were certainly critical and measured voices, few wanted to hear them during the euphoria at that time.
Here our author Gerd Schuhmann dealt with the separation: Activision frees Destiny 2 – This doesn’t resolve many problems, but one
This is the mood today: By now, Bungie has been “free” for just over a year, the development of Destiny 2 has continued independently, with Shadowkeep being the first major expansion released without the help of Activision and its associated studios. Since then, Destiny 2 has been supplied with new content in the form of seasons.
However, not everyone is happy with how the game has developed since the separation and the current state of Destiny 2. While the separation was celebrated, some Guardians are now viewing the whole situation a bit more critically.
This is what the Guardians criticize after the separation: Recently, numerous Guardians vented their frustration about the current state of Destiny 2 on Reddit.
In a popular thread called “I hate that I miss Activision”, many Reddit users reflected on the development of Destiny 2 following Bungie’s separation from Activision. They noted that the state of Destiny 2 has been slowly but surely deteriorating since Bungie and Activision went their separate ways.
The recently launched Season 10 symbolically highlights this situation. In the eyes of numerous users, there are fewer contents, hardly any innovations, the new contents are mostly reheated, and the quality is declining. Many parts of the game, such as strikes, are simply deteriorating.
All of this was significantly different and better with Forsaken, which was created under Activision. In addition, it has become clear to some that it wasn’t only Activision that made questionable design decisions regarding Destiny 2 – for instance, regarding the Eververse.
In short: Many feel that Destiny 2 has been operating on a tight budget since the divorce. But now there is no Activision anymore to blame for it. This is now Bungie’s own work.
In the end, the author resigns: “I never thought I would miss Activision. But here I am.”
Also in another trending post about Season 10 titled “Season of the Worthy? How about the Season of a Product with Minimal Effort?” many loudly criticize that Destiny 2 is now only operating on a tight budget and that Season 10 is the best proof of it.
The mood in the community has therefore turned for many members. Although there are still some Guardians who believe the separation was the right decision, it feels like many more players now view the divorce more critically than they did about a year ago when the separation was still fresh.
This is how you decided in our survey on the topic back then:
By the way, this is how Activision looked at the separation: Activision names 3 reasons for the Destiny separation – one is concerning
Do you miss Activision by now? Participate in our survey
We have taken this development as an opportunity to hold a survey. We want to know from you whether you miss Activision now or if you still see the separation as the right decision on Bungie’s part.
Keep in mind, you only have one option to respond. Thank you for participating and for your time.
In early 2019, the divorce between Bungie and publisher Activision was celebrated by many. There was a sense of new beginnings; it could only get better with Destiny 2, as the prevailing sentiment at the time went. However, many Guardians now see it differently. What do you think? Do you miss Activision?
