At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week, Bungie’s principal designer Alain Blaine talked about the struggles Destiny 2 faced leading up to its Lightfall expansion. Bungie had noticed a significant drop in player counts and, surprisingly, couldn’t pinpoint the exact reasons why. To address this, they assembled a small team dedicated to implementing quick quality-of-life changes. While many of these changes had positive outcomes, one particular adjustment led to a dramatic 20-hour server outage and a character rollback. If anyone has questions about this talk, feel free to ask!
4 Answers
It’s wild how much the quality-of-life updates changed the game during the Lightfall year. When Bungie zeroes in on a problem, they really make a difference!
Lightfall might have had its flaws, but the introduction of Strand was a game changer. The mechanics kept it fresh, especially in PvE.
Honestly, making quick changes like this feels like a bandaid solution. It takes a lot more than shuffling your few remaining teams to truly revitalize player engagement.
Yup! I remember them saying they didn’t shy away from making changes that might not stick long-term, but that’s still risky.
True, and the window they had to implement these changes was really tight. They had to act fast, which limits what could realistically be done.
It’s kind of eye-opening that Bungie recognized player retention was an issue even back in the Witch Queen era, but didn’t take action until the layoffs. Upper management has a lot to answer for.
Absolutely! Players were pumped during seasons like Haunted, but the momentum crashed hard going into Plunder.
Exactly, and it leaves a bad taste when they start removing content we paid for—makes it hard to stay optimistic as a fan.
I find it strange that they thought QoL changes alone would tackle the player decline. Sure, they helped player sentiment, but they didn’t really address the burnout veterans were feeling from repetitive seasons and a tough onboarding experience for new players.
It’s an interesting perspective. Even with the strike team’s quick fixes, Lightfall dropped tons of people’s morale. They really needed a more comprehensive approach.
Right? They were responding to specific issues but missed the larger picture about content quality and player retention.
Totally! I forgot just how impactful it was—no more blue gear was a huge relief.