In Destiny , it is becoming clear that Luke Smith is taking the helm for the autumn expansion.
We do not know the title or details, but: Everyone actually expects that the autumn expansion of Destiny will be presented in June at E3. It should have a similar scope to “The Taken King,” the autumn expansion from 2015.
The key person back then was Luke Smith, a former journalist and hardcore WoW player, who became a designer at Bungie. He was initially in charge of raid design for “Vault of Glass” in Destiny. He did this so well that he was promoted to Game Director and Creative Director of “The Taken King.” He had creative oversight of the project, similar to a director in film.
Throwing Money at the Monitor – the phrase made him famous and infamous
During the summer and autumn of 2015, Smith played an important role not only internally but also in the public relations. The extroverted Bungie veteran (since 2007 with the Halo developer) gave numerous interviews and presentations, including the unfortunate “Throwing Money at the Monitor” story.
He did not present himself well in a written interview with Eurogamer when he had to justify the “high price” of the Collector’s Edition. His words on why players should spend so much more money on a few digital extras, like emotes, then went down in Destiny history. “If we showed the emotes to the players now, they would throw money at the monitor,” Smith said at the time. This angered many fans. Later he admitted, he really did sound like an ass.
Since November, things have been quiet regarding Smith. He has had little to do with ongoing business in recent months, as that was taken over by the live team.
It looks like Smith will be back at the helm for the autumn expansion. In his personal profile on the business site LinkedIn, he is now listed as “Game Director/Creative Director” for “Unannounced Game.” He held this position for “The Taken King” as well.
On Twitter, he goes by “Scarab Lord” (a title from old WoW days) and “Director” of an unannounced project. Smith’s role in the autumn expansion is not officially confirmed yet. It is also conceivable that the “unannounced title” refers to Destiny 2, which is set to be released next year. However, the autumn expansion seems more likely. Smith’s role in “The Taken King” was unanimously praised – except for the interview incident.
We will probably have to wait for new information regarding the autumn expansion: In May, there are three live streams about Destiny planned.
