Several months ago, Bungie sought help from the community to improve Destiny 2 Forsaken. They chose YouTuber Holtzmann. We looked into what happened with the initiative.
This was the initiative: In April 2018, an official job posting went online at Bungie. They were looking for a gameplay expert from within the community.
In spring 2018, Destiny 2 had hit quite a low point. The job posting was met with suspicion: Was Bungie seriously looking for help, or was this a PR stunt to smooth over tensions?
The vibe was ultimately something like: Who will save Bungie? Which of the community heroes would step up to take the position in Seattle.
Names like
- My Name is Byf
- Datto
- or SC_Slayerage
quickly circulated.
Ultimately, Bungie chose Patrick Casey, known as Holtzmann. He was previously the figurehead of the fan site “Planetdestiny” and has become a popular YouTuber.
Bungie hired Holtzmann for three months – after that, nothing was heard from the initiative. Holtzmann didn’t post any new videos for a long time. It became quiet around him.
Bungie hired 3 experts as an elite fireteam
This is what came of the initiative: Holtzmann explained in a video what actually happened. His contract at Bungie ended on August 31. He wasn’t the only community expert; Bungie brought in an entire fireteam of three Guardians to improve Forsaken.
Alongside Holtzmann, the following were involved:
- Mercules, a well-known theorycrafter for Destiny. As Mercules904, he had been posting extensive analyses on weapons and God Rolls: the Breakdowns on reddit and at planetdestiny for years. We have presented his work to you for years.
- Spot, a rather unknown member of the community but a tremendously dedicated raider and a “Raid Sherpa,” as Holtzmann says. A Raid Sherpa is someone who guides others through the raid.
This is what the 3 did: The three specialists acted as a test fireteam for Destiny 2. They played the freshly developed content and provided detailed feedback to Bungie.
The idea was likely to have experts from the community as quality control in-house. The three were not supposed to contribute their own ideas or actively participate in a design role but provide feedback to the team to allow for the best possible Forsaken experience.
Holtzmann explains that they weren’t specifically told to look for bugs, but it often turned out that what they didn’t like during testing was a bug after all.
Holtzmann says he essentially did what he does as a YouTuber, but on a wider scope. He not only looked at individual weapons or the sandbox but the entire game.
It was interesting to see cutscenes or individual processes in an early and raw state. The NPCs often made confusing faces, and you could tell that a lot was still missing.
How long Holtzmann was at Bungie: Holtzmann cannot tell much about the exact time and tasks at Bungie. Only that it was, of course, a “paid job”. The original contract for three months was extended by another month, so Holtzmann worked a total of four months for Bungie.
What’s next? Holtzmann is back to being a YouTuber, Mercules is posting again on reddit after months of silence. And it’s likely that the third member of the team has also returned to her “normal Destiny” life.
In fact, the content creators will only be able to fully engage again when the other players have caught up to them. It would be unfair to join the race for the World First at “Last Wish” now, knowing the raid already, Holtzmann says. He also wants to stay out of the podcasts for a while. Otherwise, he would have to sit silently in on them for weeks.
Holtzmann considers the experience of having worked for Bungie fantastic. The atmosphere at Bungie is incredibly good.
With colleagues, one can talk about anything – from details in WoW dungeons to other topics. He was able to work daily with people he normally only sees in ViDocs. Plus, he says the snacks were excellent, and he gained some pounds in Seattle.
Holtzmann says: “For years people have accused me of being on Bungie’s payroll. For 4 months, it was even true.”
How much the testing runs of the YouTubers ultimately contributed to the success of Destiny 2 Forsaken, we will probably never know. So far, it seems they did their job well:
