Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, brings Peter Fabiano on board. He comes with 13 years of horror experience from Capcom. It’s surprising how well the MMO shooter suits the horror theme already – will there soon be more atmospheric highlights waiting for the Guardians?
Who is joining Bungie? The Destiny developer is getting support from Peter Fabiano. He is leaving the publisher Capcom.
Fabiano has significantly contributed as a producer to the best “Resident Evil” titles of recent years:
- The acclaimed horror reboot Resident Evil 7 and the critically acclaimed Remake of Resident Evil 2 are credited to him.
- In the recently released Resident Evil Village, Fabiano served again as producer and senior manager, bringing Capcom great success with the latest installment of the series.
- Within a few days, Resi 8 managed to sell over 4 million units and realized the milestone of 100 million sold “Resident Evil” games after 25 years (via PlayCentral). Additionally, players are celebrating Ethan’s new adventure in the horror village (via GameStar).
- Overall, Fabiano worked for 13 years at Capcom.
Via Twitter, he bids farewell to his former employer on May 29 and thanked everyone there. At the same time, he closes his farewell letter with the famous Destiny quote: “Eyes up, Guardians” and announces that he has now found a new home at Bungie.
At Bungie, Fabiano holds the position of “Production Dept. Manager” (via Twitter). What exactly his role will be with the Destiny developer or what he is working on remains a mystery. However, we can expect that Fabiano will bring his years of horror experience with him.
Does Destiny and Horror even fit together?
At first glance, the loot shooter with its colorful space magic and eerie atmosphere, zombies, and gore seem to be completely incompatible. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Destiny is at its strongest when it gets dark.
It has been creepy before: In 2021, the Sign Mission blew the Guardians away: The trip to an “abandoned” spaceship, drifting aimlessly in space and overgrown with alien fungi, is one of the coolest experiences in all of Destiny. Internally, Bungie even referred to the mission as “Ghost Ship.”
The Guardians associated the trip with the “Alien” films or frightening games like “Dead Space” – even though Destiny does not involve tactical dismemberment.
There have also been scary moments and missions in the past that still give the Guardians a scare today:
- Trevor – better known as the Terror Mower – has probably frozen the blood in the veins of every Guardian at first sight.
- In The Taken King, we witnessed how our reality broke apart, and Oryx “turned” beings in the best horror manner, transforming them into black distorted images. The Taken also twitch as if they have escaped from a horror film.
- In Shadowkeep, Destiny 2 wanted to be very scary, even if the nightmares did not really live up to the hype.
- Our great enemy is the bodiless Darkness, an entity that devours half of the solar system and becomes increasingly present. There was even an apocalypse clock in Destiny 2 that announced the impending end.
At the beginning of 2022, there’s also “Witch Queen,” the next big expansion. Our main enemy will be the Witch Queen. The witch Savathûn weaves ancient curses and diligently enchants NPCs. If this DLC is not predestined for more horror…
Guardians, do not be too afraid
This is why Destiny won’t be horror: While the Guardians celebrate the creepy missions and Bungie is surely doing well by mixing light-hearted action with a bit more atmosphere, do not worry, Destiny 2 will most likely not be a horror game.
Also, do not expect survival horror elements like lack of ammunition. Although of course, it already tends to drop no heavy ammunition when it is needed most in the raid.
This is what Bungie still has in store: Whether Fabiano will even bring his horror expertise to Destiny 2 is still unknown. After all, Bungie is currently expanding and working on completely unannounced games. It is even quite possible that Fabiano was recruited by Bungie solely for his producer qualities. However, the Destiny quote would suggest otherwise.
His talent could then benefit Matter – the code name of the project. Here, horror would be hard to fit: From job postings, we know that the game is meant to be a fun hero shooter with a strong PvP focus.
What do you think, would Destiny 2 benefit from a creepy direction? Are you hoping for another horror highlight like the Sign Mission thanks to Fabiano’s help? Or is the new Production Dept. Manager using his talents elsewhere at Bungie? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
