Same, even with Bungie getting all the Sony money, and making bank the past years, I didn't have the hope for any incredible DLC, and even less now. We have been asking where that Sony/DLC/Eververse money is going, and they are now letting go a lot of people, clearly isn't going for the D2 team, tho' there's now way Marathon is eating all that money. For sure there's something going on from Sony, some strategic changes, this clearly affects Bungie in the level that everything is getting delayed.
@@AndJusticeforAll567bro I feel the same way bro bungie just pooled the 3rd scam of a game life time lol 😅 I play the game but I’m like yo I notice the scam the first time I bought the game expansions and they came out with light fall lol 😅 yooo I’m weak lmao they scammed player when the first time the game came out people bought the Deluxe Edition to only find out later they released the game for free. Hahahahaha😅
This is the least amount of hype I have ever had for anything Destiny related, especially with something as big as an expansion. Partly because Destiny, I'm just over it...but mainly because Single Player games are so damn good this time of year
I just told a friend in the industry and they blew past the bungie news, apparently Sony is having a lot of issues right now. Santa Monica Studios and Insomniac can't two handedly keep all of Sony afloat and this may just be the start of their owned studios suffering major cutbacks.
The fact they've laid off Michael Salvatore is utterly incomprehensible. This man has been the most consistent part of the the Destiny franchise since its inception. Most likely he's already composed for the Final Shape but that among many others is an incredible loss. Thank you and good luck to everyone at Bungie who is forced to move on ❤
They fired the guy who wrote the entirety of the lore and story of Destiny before launch then broke it into parts to be sold as dlc and cards on an app. They're capable of anything...
My heart goes out to the devs. I hope they find new work in one of the most depressing states in gaming where you could easily lose your livelihood just because the higher ups and management can’t do their jobs properly.
I mean, it's originally the writing team that didn't do their job properly, one could push that onto management not knowing but come on, one of the core problems in LF was writing being sloppy, and so far we know that community managers are being let go so not... you know, programmers, 3D designers, weapons experts. This is good, they're cutting the fat, removing middle managers and the game can only benefit from this approach. Heartless? As heartless as it comes, but you're not entitled to a job, you're not entitled to anything, if they can make another WQ then it'll be their win to take home. Yes I know execs porbably get golden parachutes in the 8 digits, and that doesn't make me happy, I want my money to be reinvested in D2 but if cuts are to be made, let them be made in HR, in community managing, and let every D2 writer that lead LF be let go of. Provided the gameplay is good, the story makes sense, there's no Nimbus and Michael Salvatori keeps being there to score it all, it'll still feel like home.
@@twilso12there are hundreds of studios, but how many of them are hiring in the exact positions that people work in? The lay offs have been industry wide, do you think many studios are hiring right now?
@@twilso12people losing their jobs is something worth being sympathetic for idk why your just hating to hate, also never use dramascreeb in a sentence ever again..
Correct, about $1.2 Billion per an article from Paul from early last year. Absolutely heartbreaking to see all these people lose their jobs over what appears to be greed. My heart goes out to the devs
That was just so the employees don’t jump ship nothing in that mentioned about lay offs and bungie is “supposedly” known for burning through money quickly so it’s probably gone already. Take this comment with a side of salt though dunno if it’s true or not.
Ah yes, because community trust was already so high, I'm sure this won't shake anyone's confidence in Bungie's ability to deliver on future content it's already sold us. Not too late to cancel those final shape pre-orders y'all.
if you are a destiny fan for a long time, you know this means it will be good. witch queen got delayed, forsaken got delayed, beyond light got delayed. all great expansions and guess which one didnt got delayed.
@@Cabbage22927 Maybe....MAYBE NOT. The longer you don't play this game, the better you feel. I have not played since pre Lightfail. This may actually help me forget about this game altogether. That's will be over a year since I won't be playing Destiny. Still watch and hope for the best, but this looks so bleak...
I think to say there's plenty of responsibility to go around is pretty accurate. Obviously there's corporate greed and mismanagement going on with both Bungie and Sony and the decent folks lower on the totem pole are suffering the consequences. It's disgraceful. My heart goes out to all the employees at Bungie and their families. Both those who were laid off and those who are going to have to deal with the shit show this is going to create
@@riothegod1831nah it’s really starting to come down to that point. There are so many other good games and tbh Destiny was the last straw in me giving up all live service games in general. This shit is tiring
Honestly same. I play what ive bought occasionally. Maybe. I was “mehh” on Final Shape & that was 1st time i ever felt that way. D1 player and im either burnout or realizing this game will never be what i want it to be so why should i keep bothering.
@@riothegod1831 It can actually be done...LOL. I have not touched this shitty game since pre Lightfail. Zero regrets while playing GOW, Diablo, and now Cyperpunk. Much better experiences than this cash crab. You should try now and stop being their cash cow.
My confidence in The Final Shape has been shattered. After Ligtfall I was pretty shaken up in terms of trust with Bungie in delivering a good product, and the showcase for TFS really didn't hype me up like others do. I can imagine this is the single worst time to have something like this happen in terms of the development of TFS. I'm anticipating this kind of shake up will reflect in the quality of the TFS. I wish the best for all the laid off employees, especially the CMs who have had the unenviable task of liaising with the community during the most tumultuous era of Destiny probably ever Edit: they sacked Michael Salvatori it's so fucking Joever man. Destiny is dead
Final Shape was the 1st reveal I literally went “mehhhh” at. Not sure what happened, Lightfall maybe, fatigue since D1, realizing multiplayer and needing players to do every activity frustrated me too much as a solo player, no clue. But I was over it and todays news was nail in the coffin. Done.
Yea I'm definitely worried. It's gonna be one interesting launch day. But who knows mabye it being delayed will give them more time depending on how many employees were layed off
@@EchoDoctrine it's because TFS isn't shipping with any new features. WQ had weapon crafting and the start of light 3.0. Lightfall, for all its faults, had a completely new subclass. The coolest thing being added to TFS is new supers to already existing subclasses. Thats it. The Final Shape reveal was not that interesting because of that.
It’s just inevitable really. They just cut away from the game continually until the appeal of what we signed up for was gone one day and now we have this husk of a game which just lacks soul. TTK era was the best time for this game. Simply incredible, I’ll always remember those days so fondly.
I always hoped they'd be able to recreate the magic the game had when TTK was current, and they just can't. TTK was arguably the most fun period of gaming I've ever had
@@badvengeanceand I still had more fun in that content drought than I’ve had in majority of D2’s seasons. Then April update came out and I had more fun than I’ve had in D2 period.
FYI, having been a part of MULTIPLE layoffs across many game studios, Layoffs virtually never impact release days. I have yet to ever see a ship date slip simply because of layoffs. These are usually the results of days or weeks of careful calculations around what headcount will move the needed on financial needs, *without* impacting current goals. If there are delays that are going to come down the pipeline, they are most likely unrelated and tied to different underlying problems.
Agreed. But it may be due to the fact that internal demo to Sony was quite negative. Therefore their internal projections in terms of sales sit quite low. Remember that lightfall was discounted months after release. This was out of the ordinary for Bungie. Financial issues will result in cutting staff and delaying the expansion.
Complete mismanagement. People will blame Sony as they blamed Activision and even Microsoft before. Leadership AT Bungie has to take a good hard look at their content and personnel strategy. Treat your customers and employees with respect.
You’re talking as if only Bungie is doing this. The unfortunate reality is that almost the whole industry is doing this, regardless of the success of their games or management. Other PS studios did this, MS did this (especially with 343 lol), Epic laid off like 900 employees, which is absolutely insane. This is super common, especially after an acquisition and ESPECIALLY this year, which was a disaster from this point of view. I wish it was only a matter of incompetent Bungie’s leadership lol
"People will blame Sony" Yeah because this entirely Sony's decision. Bungie didn't just up and decide to fire half their team. What in the actual fuck to you think otherwise?
I feel so bad for all of the people that are being let go. I've been laid off unexpectedly before and it sucks. I hope they all land on their feet in even better situations. And now they can't really communicate what's going on because they cut most or all of their community team. Like WTAF
Look, up until March of this year I was an avid player of Destiny 2 for several years, but after the arrival of Lightfall, I was compelled to cease putting my money and time into the game. I have been monitoring the situation in the months since, watching keenly to see if some of the situations with the game had began to improve. It is greatly disappointing to see that it is only gotten worse. Not only that, but then to see that Bungie somehow has managed to end up in a situation where it seems that it's become necessary for significant layoffs and employee cuts, and to see this increase in monetization which seems to imply financial issues, is just disheartening as well as somewhat confusing. My impression was that the purchase of Bungie via Sony was going to help herald in a new era for the company in which higher gear development might be able to take place. Instead we see evidence of more mismanagement and signs of decline. I can only imagine what has happened here, one would think a 3 + billion dollar purchase would provide a more than nominal financial boost and yet somehow we've arrived to this point where Destiny 2 is going to face a delay for its Capstone DLC? What the hell is going on here? It would seem my decision to withdraw from Destiny 2 will stand. I had hoped better things than this.
Well said. Also left back when lightfall dropped. They've been getting lazier and lazier, and frankly it's looking like Destiny is in its death throes. Guess we'll see.
Absolutely disgusting day for everyone, fans and developers alike. But I guess if you're a head at Sony or Bungie, this is just one step towards greater profitability
Yup, sales lead to profit. Sales down 45% due to toxic social media driven by PvP content creators. All have lost subs because of their stupidity and that's is justice. Never bite the hand that feeds you.
Long-time composer for Bungie, Michael Salvatori, who has been composing the music for both Destiny and Halo, unfortunately has been laid off, alongside Michael Sechrist, and over 100 employees.
I was already completely put on Final Shape, but this just reinforces that decision. Bungie has absolutely no idea what they are doing. I hope all of these people find a better place soon
@@RobbieB2606same way we went from Taken King and Rise of Iron to launch D2…or Forsaken to Beyond Light and Shadowkeep. Bungie keeps repeating the same mistakes and thinking they can go back to complacency after delivering an expansion that meets a fraction of what we expected from Destiny at this point in its life cycle.
@@RobbieB2606Witch queen was clearly an anomaly clearly, somehow they accidentally made something decent without actually understanding what they were doing.
Eh Halo fans said this for the past decade. Now it’s Destiny fans, in 10 years it will be Marathon fans lol. The Bungie cycle just never ends. Hell, even Myth and Marathon fans said the same thing lmao
@@DESCENSUSS disagree with D2. Back in Shadowkeep seasons were kinda bad/mixed (especially compared to now), the story was going nowhere (the only exception to these is Arrivals) and the meta was super boring, sunsetting was the result of this. Plus on old Gen the game was literally unplayable lol. There was no vaulting and it’s a big plus but eh, overall there were MANY bad things of that year. Agree on D1 because yeah… it’s quite literally the peak, since there was no update after that lol. But it was a great update nonetheless.
Regarding the heavy monetization, it's important to remember that if a company is focused on bizdev their mission is not to figure out how little money they can get away with making, it's about how much they can get away with making. Even if this was a huge money printing machine for Bungie you could still see this kind of parceling up of every little thing.
It's been management failure since D1Y1, and the split from Activision (while amazing on paper) proved conclusively that Bungie Management are at the heart of the problem. From creative direction, to design mechanics, to monetization, that's been problem. Always has been. Always will be. Stop. Supporting. Bungie. Find other companies that treat their employees better, and respect their players' intelligence and time. This is a horrible day for Bungie's employees, and my heart goes out to each and every one of them. But by Thursday's TWID, the whole community won't be thinking about this, as they debate over gun changes and ability tweaks, yadda yadda, and that's the saddest thing of all. Support other companies. This has gone too far now.
Until someone can make an ability shooter that feels as good as destiny then I will be happy and willing to support a new developer. I’m not personally gonna leave a game that feels good just for something subpar. Which is the current state of shooters.
While I feel for those who lost their jobs, it only highlights that Bungie has been the problem this entire time. They've proven over a 10 year period that they can't manage a game of Destiny's scale. They've only proven they can do two things consistently, keep a hype train moving and milking as many players for as much money as they can get their hands on
@jayblack3345 Warframe shits all over it. Has for years. The only reason Destiny's shooting only "feels good" due to insane bullet magnetism and aim assist to the point the game practically plays for you...and the only reason they leaned heavily on abilities and ability spam is counter develop Warframe, which had that on lock years before it. It's why Warframe having "space ninjas" inspired Destiny players to refer to Guardians as "space wizards." Nothing about Destiny is original, or special, or interesting. Ditch it. Immediately. No excuses.
Cancelled my final shape pre order yesterday. I bought the lightfall edition that included the years seasons upfront and have yet to finish any pass this year. I play for a week or so when a new season launches before losing interest and end up getting the story beats from TH-cam. Maybe I’m burnt out or maybe I’m sick of the reskinned seasonal models, either way I’ve decided I’m not playing enough D2 right now to warrant a final shape pre order. Will wait until launch and see if the story hits right before committing to a purchase. Final shape will more than likely be my D2 final play.
It really sucks for these people that lost their positions. I wish them the best. That being said, I permanently put this game down last season and it might be one of the best decisions I've made gaming wise. Been around since D1, and now from the outside looking in, it is constant issues, bad news, community complaints and now this. I do not regret it.
To go back on what they said last February is so sick and cruel. "We won't lay people off because of this" to "We're laying people off because of this." But I guarantee the big wigs are getting their full salary this year. Probably a bonus too with so many people out of a job now.
It never hits home until someone in ur household gets laid off. My wife got laid off today, same day as this story leaks. My wife and I are wondering how we can survive with two kids and one of the only 1 year old. Its scary
The lay-offs really suck, I hope that everyone finds a new job quick. As for the Final Shape, I guess im now cautiously optimistic instead of just apathetic.
I just want to wish all those talented workers at Bungie who have been affected by this all the best for their future careers and endeavors and my heart goes out to their families that have been also impacted by this devastating news especially the holiday season is around the corner .
it's amazing a company that sold for 3.6 billion, which was estimated to be around US $4 Million per bungie employee feels like they can't afford to keep people on. Bungie employees should unionize.
@@awehy3993 I'm just putting it out there because not alot of people know about them being given that money and it was around this time frame that the quality and size of content has been diminishing in D2. There are rumours that this is because D2 has had a skeleton crew working whilst marathon had the bulk of the Bungie dev team. It just all seems a bit cloak and daggers but I guess that's business.
I’ve honestly been riding the wave of improvements and updates in Halo Infinite since lightfall. Halo Infinite has improved season over season and is in an awesome spot and it’s going in the opposite direction of Destiny.
@@it2spooky4me79i wouldn’t blame so much the devs. Most people who actually worked on the development of the game were temporary workers. And the game engine is notoriously hard to work with and has a learning curve. That’s why it took so long for content to drop. It was really managements fault for making dumb decisions.
This is going to be a rough ride. I haven't pre-ordered and definitely won't be any time soon. Any new context for Eververse will be seen negatively. Player base commitment will dwindle which will in turn make a poor PVP worse. Sad times for all concerned and the community as well.
I think the simplest and most likely explanation is that Sony finally realized what sensible people have been saying for years that there's only so much room for live service games amongst the player base. It's unlikely there's room for 10 major live service games across the whole industry let alone just at Sony as they were supposedly planning on. Bungie's live service expertise is worth a lot of borrowed money if it helps you make 10 more LS games. But if it is literally impossible for all those games to take off then priorities for money must change.
This is on Sony. They are making some huge changes internally. TFS being delayed for Sony's next fiscal year speaks volumes. They are the one pushing this 99%.
@@ap396z A delay for Destiny 2 is not necessarily a bad thing. WQ was delayed and it came out pretty decent and well liked. Layoffs are also common that when companies are merged or purchased by other companies.
@@ap396zwell its a delay combo'd with a layoff so it's not like it's the same ppl working on the project. It's a bigger dice roll on what we'll get now. I'm in the tech industry and I loosely lump gaming into it. Layoffs are like a pandemic right now in tech. Every time I get on LinkedIn I see that green swoosh saying "Looking For Work." Soooooooo many layoffs this month.
I mean, people used to blame Activision for all the bad shit at Bungie. I don't think it's beyond imagination that Bungie is capable of making it's own bad decisions
They've taken underdelivering so closely to heart they are even underdelivering employees. Gotta respect the dedication. Salvatori being laid off is devastating and I have no hopes for bungie at this point, wouldn't surprise me if they end up being closed down by Sony within the next 5 years.
Don't know for some reason Lightfall just ended my excitment for D2, it was shortly followed by that exccessive predatory cash shop "improvement" and it just killed it for me, I played non stop since Season 10 grinded medals, did the hardest content solo but Lightfall don't know man, difficulty curve just went out through the roof, they went to please 10% of the players by killing the rest of average and casual players. Unless you sit there all day long trying to min max things you can't really do "hard" content anymore because everything just shits on you and melts you and that's no fun.
Lightfall could have definitely used a delay (even if small), so it’s not a bad news for TFS at all imo. This dlc is just too important. Same goes for Marathon obviously. Laid offs are unfortunately common in the industry, this year especially, but they still sucks for everybody. I hope all the talented people that no longer work at Bungie can find a new job as soon as possible
I wonder if they'll have to list what aspects of the game they developed/run with AI. It will be interesting to see if that corresponds to departments the people were laid off from.
I was really disgusted by lightfall, but with Joe’s comeback in the light of day, interacting with the community, the changes coming with the next season and the overall transparency I thought we had been having for the past months, my hopes really were starting to come back. Today’s news is really devastating for a fan as invested as I am so I can’t imagine how bad it is for those who are actually (or were) working at the company. I really care about this game, it’s community and the people who make it and I am so tired that these bullshit money driven reasons keep ruining everything regarding destiny as a whole. To those of you who lost there job today, I truly hope your talent is recognized more profoundly in a place where you’ll be rewarded accordingly, in the nearest possible future of course.❤
yeah this is exactly how i feel as well. it is so clear the actual people working on the game care so much for it but they are just not allowed to do anything that might invite financial risk
Paul, I really enjoy your opinion on this game and I know it has to suck when you have to make videos or write articles about how things are not going well with a game you really love. There are so many of us that have more time than we'd like to admit wrapped up in this game, and it's been feeling "not fun" for a while now. Anytime anyone loses a job, it's a crappy day. I truly feel bad for the developers involved, these people take a beating from the public and have been the target of steady ridicule from some hardcore "fans". I've been critical of the game, critical of many decisions, but in the end, it's just a game. I'll have fun playing with my buddies, some of them I've been playing with for ten or more years. I hope that Destiny and the crew behind it finds their way. Thinking back on the days of Halo, we used to have 10-15 minutes of fun with complete strangers, laugh and carry on and then it was on to the next match. That quick, fun, repetitive gameplay was what made the game so fun, and it was SIMPLE. No goofy builds, no supers, no stupid movements like triple jumps or going invisible. Guns, grenades, and punching. Destiny has become so complicated that you spend half a day sometimes trying to get the right build for different tasks. The casual player doesn't want to go through all of this just to play a game and blow off steam for an hour or so. The casual player doesn't want to sit through 30 minute videos with titles like "Preparing for Lightfall 10 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now" or "BLAH BLAH RAID drops in two weeks, 20 things you need to do NOW before day one" just to be able to play content that they PAID FOR. Forcing people to play with a particular weapon set to run through a strike because there are certain enemies that can only be killed with particular weapons is not what makes a game fun. Having the resources available IN GAME to run through whatever task you're trying to complete is what makes games fun for the casual player. There are FAR too many "exotic" weapons in the game that do nothing to enhance the gameplay. There are FAR TOO MANY weapons that have perks that are useless, but after a few seasons these perks get buffed and now your useless heavy grenade launcher you deleted after it sat in your vault for 6 months is now the weapon you have to have or you're no longer able to be competitive. Somewhere along the way these game studios lost their way. Simple, repetitive fun that can be had with your friends whether you have 30 minutes for a couple of PVP matches before you are heading out for dinner with your significant other, the kids are off to sleep a little before your typical bedtime, or knocking off a few parts of a campaign before you need to mow the grass are what made the other games enjoyable. Needing to take off work for a whole day to try and beat a raid so you can get enough clears to be considered for an LFG is ridiculous. Most of the adult population that plays these games are casual players with careers, families and things they need to do before they're going to game. Marathon appeared to be headed back into that direction, based on what they were describing. If I could jump in, play a match and not feel gutted for when I needed to leave, that's a huge plus for me. Not having to clear 8 hours of my day to sit and grind out some stupid weapon so I could ATTEMPT a raid really sounds appealing. I really feel that forgetting to focus on the casual player is why the game isn't doing well. I really hope they sort this out.
This is pretty disheartening to hear. I was holding on to the hope that the Sony acquisition wouldn't have any negative downstream consequences for Bungie and by extension Destiny. 7 month season memes are already getting tossed about. Not a good day to be a Destiny fan that's for sure.
Other Sony’s studios were hit by laid off as well. Bungie isn’t immune to things like this unfortunately. The whole industry laid off a lot of people in 2023. Epic cut like 900 employees, MS almost killed 343. It’s a general thing unfortunately. It just sucks.
Sucks to hear about the layoffs, hope they recover and find (likely better) jobs soon. As for the extra time added to the next season, bring back vaulted content!!! Bring back Menagerie/Leviathan raids (maybe with updates) and the Red War!!!
Sad, but not surprising. This is more of the same. I have been in the industry for 6 years professionally and 4 years as an indie. I am going to look at moving to a different industry at the end of this year. I had a son 7 months ago, and have zero confidence that my job is safe. See ya games industry, it's been a blast.
Dont feel sorry for Bungie. They just suffering consequences of actions and choices from past years and also they deserved it for their greedy practices
the things i want to say to people like you would get me banned. the devs have nothing to do with this, they are the victims here. shareholders and executives are the ones to direct your anger at.
Out of all the people to lay off, I don't understand why they would lay off Hippy? She was literally the face of the community team after DMG. She had seniority other than Cozmo, and was the most interactive, friendly, and helpful CM out of everyone currently there. I'm sorry to anyone that got laid off but it makes no sense to me to lay off Hippy. Other than Cozmo (who hasn't been doing much on the interaction side lately) she literally was the bridge between the player base and Bungie.
If every team needed to take a hit, and they felt like they could get away with one fewer CM, then a less senior person will get whacked. If you're in the middle sometimes you can be less safe, since you're not so senior that you're hard to replace and the next person down has similar skills but probably gets paid less so they're cheaper to keep. Cozmo is team lead and iirc they have at least one other CM person who's a bit newer.
Yeah honestly I'm uncertain of anything she ever did. I only ever really seen her ranting on Twitter. I'd like to understand though. What was she responsible of? What did she do for the comm team?
@@swarlly I don't know about her non public facing tasks, but she would write up most of the TWIDs these days and presumably do a lot of interfacing with the various development teams to gather and distill all the upcoming development work, events, etc and work with leadership, marketing, legal etc to decide what goes out to the public, when, and in what format. I'm sure each TWID has to get run through a lot of steps before it goes live. There's also work involved in reaching out into the player base for those puff piece interviews they do with this or that cosplayer, running the interview itself, and writing it up. It's essentially a combination of a PR and marketing role, seems to me. Each TWID is a combination of a press release and a newsletter.
Then bungie will be like we don’t have a team for this thing in the game. Sucks hopefully they find something greater. Also the waiting to tell people about a delay until June for final shape is weird just let people know now but the reason for the delay would be good to hear if they can talk about it. But then they would be like we don’t have a team for this or that.
I’ve been saying when I see Destiny 2 news (quit for months now, not following in game stuff at this point) That Sony deal was literally Bungie taking a deal with the devil… and with how things keep getting worse since Lightfall’s release… it’s looking more and more like it… Hoping for the best for everyone for all involved in the layoff wave… this is the absolute worst time they could have done it with the holidays around the corner too, rather cruel :(
awful actions from a company towards people who have taken so much shit and practically died on the sword for the company. personally I want to never touch the game again - I can't imagine being in your situation, having to cover the game for your job when so many people you've worked with have forcibly been removed
I think bungie is almost done for. Delaying Final Shape and laying off a whole bunch of people is a sign that they're struggling. And, let's be honest, Marathon has a good chance of flopping since bungie doesn't believe in making quality products per their design philosophy, and the team working on that game probably has little/no experience making extraction shooters. If they can manage to whip something good together soon then maybe they have hope but for now I think they got another year or two in them before they're gone.
I have 0 faith that with the dev cuts it'll be polished. How can you take pre orders for an expansion with an announced release date, then fire devs and delay the expansion. Further, it would be one thing if it was an indie developer, but for a large studio that's existed since before I've been alive, and owned by one of the largest entertainment companies one the planet... Yeah, faith in Sony, and by extension exec's of Bungie has been completely obliterated. The devs deserve better, and the exec's deserve the worst. It's easy to fire the workers, I wonder how many of the executive positions are going to be out a job or decreasing their pay, I wonder will there be any apology to the community they've now shafted? Doubt it. IF TFS arrives polished it won't break even in terms of positive vs negative effect IMO.
You said it at the beginning of the video Paul. Bad Management is what the problem really is. Joe Blackburn's apology video was not enough for me because I've seen them before from Bungie and would likely see it again. The fact that they did the apology video showed just how out of touch they are with the community. After 9 years i just quit playing and don't see myself returning for the Destiny finale.
This is exactly what finally pushed me away a few years ago. Pushing the expansion more than a whole season but without adding anything new during that time. Hadn’t missed a bit of content from D1 up until Beyond Light. Witch Queen got delayed (pandemic - justifiably so) and it caused the last season of BL to be 100+ days longer. That 6+ month final season at the end of a bad year was too much and I’m sure majority of whoever is left will move on before TFS is here.
This is terrible news. I hope all those laid off find work soon. In terms of the delay this is terrible as it would pretty much cause a content drought thus causing players to leave in droves 🤦🏿♂️
This really worries me. I’ve already been worried for TFS and now I’m even more worried as it seems it’s funding hasn’t lasted and development power is reduced. I feel awful for all the employees who have to go through this during the time period.
i pre ordered every year of packs for destiny. final shape is literally the first one where i went. "Nah got a weird feeling about it. i will wait." really glad i did. What the hell is going on over there. We need some damn transparency.
This is the least I have played Destiny in a long time as well. Mostly because of burn out, nothing rewarding anymore, game too easy, direction/decisions etc., and of course tons of great games to play and catch up on. Really glad I didn't pre-order Final Shape and I am sure those sales are a factor here too.
Laying off but management bonuses stay robust 100%. They were also probably relieved that Sony asked for a delay since its probably a fucking mess and needs more time like Lightfall was.
I told you all… Bungie is scrapping everything now and cashing out on the Destiny game. They’re switching everything to marathon. I also told you that the episode’s are NOT going to happen. They are just saying that it is to “cash out” before they scrap Destiny 2 completely.
It sucks to see anyone lose their jobs but it just doesn't surprise me. The gaming front as a whole seems like its constantly been on a knifes edge for years.
I've honestly never been less excited for the final shape. I just hope they all find better jobs soon.
I hope everyone who preordered is enjoying their emote (one of tons) and niche, not really good exotic # 3456 💀
Yeah, I’m just going through the motions at this point. This DLC is basically 2-3 years too late.
Same, even with Bungie getting all the Sony money, and making bank the past years, I didn't have the hope for any incredible DLC, and even less now.
We have been asking where that Sony/DLC/Eververse money is going, and they are now letting go a lot of people, clearly isn't going for the D2 team, tho' there's now way Marathon is eating all that money.
For sure there's something going on from Sony, some strategic changes, this clearly affects Bungie in the level that everything is getting delayed.
@@AndJusticeforAll567bro I feel the same way bro bungie just pooled the 3rd scam of a game life time lol 😅 I play the game but I’m like yo I notice the scam the first time I bought the game expansions and they came out with light fall lol 😅 yooo I’m weak lmao they scammed player when the first time the game came out people bought the Deluxe Edition to only find out later they released the game for free. Hahahahaha😅
This is the least amount of hype I have ever had for anything Destiny related, especially with something as big as an expansion.
Partly because Destiny, I'm just over it...but mainly because Single Player games are so damn good this time of year
I just told a friend in the industry and they blew past the bungie news, apparently Sony is having a lot of issues right now. Santa Monica Studios and Insomniac can't two handedly keep all of Sony afloat and this may just be the start of their owned studios suffering major cutbacks.
Insomniac pissed off half the community with the forcefully PC stuff so yeh.
People have a right to play on whatever platform they choose, PC or otherwise.
@@tag11000 i think they meant politically correct, at least in this context lol.
@@fotis3v480 wtf are you talking about, what did Insomniac do?
@@spacechannelfiverthe whole gender neutral stuff with the Spanish translation completely alienating a community
The fact they've laid off Michael Salvatore is utterly incomprehensible. This man has been the most consistent part of the the Destiny franchise since its inception.
Most likely he's already composed for the Final Shape but that among many others is an incredible loss.
Thank you and good luck to everyone at Bungie who is forced to move on ❤
Not only that. He backed up Marty on the halo trilogy sound track. Unreal.
Likely means his job is done then and they are closing shop up
They fired the guy who wrote the entirety of the lore and story of Destiny before launch then broke it into parts to be sold as dlc and cards on an app. They're capable of anything...
My heart goes out to the devs. I hope they find new work in one of the most depressing states in gaming where you could easily lose your livelihood just because the higher ups and management can’t do their jobs properly.
There are so many different dev companies you can work for, you’re being an egocentric dramascreeb
@@twilso12”dramascreeb”
Damn so people just didn’t get randomly laid off on a random Monday???
Tell me does Sony use lube?
I mean, it's originally the writing team that didn't do their job properly, one could push that onto management not knowing but come on, one of the core problems in LF was writing being sloppy, and so far we know that community managers are being let go so not... you know, programmers, 3D designers, weapons experts. This is good, they're cutting the fat, removing middle managers and the game can only benefit from this approach.
Heartless? As heartless as it comes, but you're not entitled to a job, you're not entitled to anything, if they can make another WQ then it'll be their win to take home. Yes I know execs porbably get golden parachutes in the 8 digits, and that doesn't make me happy, I want my money to be reinvested in D2 but if cuts are to be made, let them be made in HR, in community managing, and let every D2 writer that lead LF be let go of. Provided the gameplay is good, the story makes sense, there's no Nimbus and Michael Salvatori keeps being there to score it all, it'll still feel like home.
@@twilso12there are hundreds of studios, but how many of them are hiring in the exact positions that people work in? The lay offs have been industry wide, do you think many studios are hiring right now?
@@twilso12people losing their jobs is something worth being sympathetic for idk why your just hating to hate, also never use dramascreeb in a sentence ever again..
Wasn't part of purchase price put aside for employee retainment? I remember reading that when they got aquired.
Correct, about $1.2 Billion per an article from Paul from early last year. Absolutely heartbreaking to see all these people lose their jobs over what appears to be greed. My heart goes out to the devs
Listen they just really have to retain the executives
That was just so the employees don’t jump ship nothing in that mentioned about lay offs and bungie is “supposedly” known for burning through money quickly so it’s probably gone already. Take this comment with a side of salt though dunno if it’s true or not.
@@MegaMo93didn’t you know that the executives really needed those extra yachts? Of course they couldn’t retain employees.
@@Cwyan “capitalism is the worst, etc. etc”
Ah yes, because community trust was already so high, I'm sure this won't shake anyone's confidence in Bungie's ability to deliver on future content it's already sold us.
Not too late to cancel those final shape pre-orders y'all.
if you are a destiny fan for a long time, you know this means it will be good.
witch queen got delayed, forsaken got delayed, beyond light got delayed. all great expansions and guess which one didnt got delayed.
@@jet6283 beyond light 💀
Not too late to quit the game entirely and stop giving bungie money to fuck over the rest of tbe industry
@@jet6283None of those came alongside massive layoffs lmao
@@jibbibiousthis man right here spitting hard facts
I am glad I haven't pre-ordered! It's like giving Bungie a year long loan without interest.
See you when the next dlc drops
@@Cabbage22927 Maybe....MAYBE NOT. The longer you don't play this game, the better you feel. I have not played since pre Lightfail. This may actually help me forget about this game altogether. That's will be over a year since I won't be playing Destiny. Still watch and hope for the best, but this looks so bleak...
Same I'll be 47 next April Might buy it once we get more info from them.
I think to say there's plenty of responsibility to go around is pretty accurate. Obviously there's corporate greed and mismanagement going on with both Bungie and Sony and the decent folks lower on the totem pole are suffering the consequences. It's disgraceful. My heart goes out to all the employees at Bungie and their families. Both those who were laid off and those who are going to have to deal with the shit show this is going to create
Glad you started covering a bunch of other games too Paul. Love your videos and articles. I won't be touching Destiny ever again.
sure lmao
@@riothegod1831nah it’s really starting to come down to that point. There are so many other good games and tbh Destiny was the last straw in me giving up all live service games in general. This shit is tiring
Honestly same. I play what ive bought occasionally. Maybe. I was “mehh” on Final Shape & that was 1st time i ever felt that way. D1 player and im either burnout or realizing this game will never be what i want it to be so why should i keep bothering.
@@riothegod1831 It can actually be done...LOL. I have not touched this shitty game since pre Lightfail. Zero regrets while playing GOW, Diablo, and now Cyperpunk. Much better experiences than this cash crab. You should try now and stop being their cash cow.
My confidence in The Final Shape has been shattered. After Ligtfall I was pretty shaken up in terms of trust with Bungie in delivering a good product, and the showcase for TFS really didn't hype me up like others do. I can imagine this is the single worst time to have something like this happen in terms of the development of TFS. I'm anticipating this kind of shake up will reflect in the quality of the TFS. I wish the best for all the laid off employees, especially the CMs who have had the unenviable task of liaising with the community during the most tumultuous era of Destiny probably ever
Edit: they sacked Michael Salvatori it's so fucking Joever man. Destiny is dead
Final Shape was the 1st reveal I literally went “mehhhh” at.
Not sure what happened, Lightfall maybe, fatigue since D1, realizing multiplayer and needing players to do every activity frustrated me too much as a solo player, no clue. But I was over it and todays news was nail in the coffin. Done.
Same. Won't buying it.
Yea I'm definitely worried. It's gonna be one interesting launch day. But who knows mabye it being delayed will give them more time depending on how many employees were layed off
@@EchoDoctrine it's because TFS isn't shipping with any new features. WQ had weapon crafting and the start of light 3.0. Lightfall, for all its faults, had a completely new subclass. The coolest thing being added to TFS is new supers to already existing subclasses. Thats it. The Final Shape reveal was not that interesting because of that.
more like ‘The Final Cashgrab”
It’s just inevitable really. They just cut away from the game continually until the appeal of what we signed up for was gone one day and now we have this husk of a game which just lacks soul.
TTK era was the best time for this game. Simply incredible, I’ll always remember those days so fondly.
I always hoped they'd be able to recreate the magic the game had when TTK was current, and they just can't. TTK was arguably the most fun period of gaming I've ever had
Hard agree
TTK still had a big content drought until the April update.
@@badvengeanceand I still had more fun in that content drought than I’ve had in majority of D2’s seasons. Then April update came out and I had more fun than I’ve had in D2 period.
FYI, having been a part of MULTIPLE layoffs across many game studios, Layoffs virtually never impact release days. I have yet to ever see a ship date slip simply because of layoffs. These are usually the results of days or weeks of careful calculations around what headcount will move the needed on financial needs, *without* impacting current goals.
If there are delays that are going to come down the pipeline, they are most likely unrelated and tied to different underlying problems.
Agreed. But it may be due to the fact that internal demo to Sony was quite negative. Therefore their internal projections in terms of sales sit quite low. Remember that lightfall was discounted months after release. This was out of the ordinary for Bungie. Financial issues will result in cutting staff and delaying the expansion.
Probably because tifs will be shit. Fuck
This. The delay is leaked info from two employees who probably just got fired. Anger makes you say shit lol.
Complete mismanagement. People will blame Sony as they blamed Activision and even Microsoft before. Leadership AT Bungie has to take a good hard look at their content and personnel strategy. Treat your customers and employees with respect.
Big Facts! they love to blame everyone but themselves. With all that microtransactions they should be all set!
Everyone should be blamed and held accountable. It’s become the norm to release half baked garbage and slap live service on it
As Marty O'Donnell once said, don't kill your golden goose.
You’re talking as if only Bungie is doing this. The unfortunate reality is that almost the whole industry is doing this, regardless of the success of their games or management. Other PS studios did this, MS did this (especially with 343 lol), Epic laid off like 900 employees, which is absolutely insane.
This is super common, especially after an acquisition and ESPECIALLY this year, which was a disaster from this point of view.
I wish it was only a matter of incompetent Bungie’s leadership lol
"People will blame Sony"
Yeah because this entirely Sony's decision. Bungie didn't just up and decide to fire half their team. What in the actual fuck to you think otherwise?
I feel so bad for all of the people that are being let go. I've been laid off unexpectedly before and it sucks. I hope they all land on their feet in even better situations. And now they can't really communicate what's going on because they cut most or all of their community team. Like WTAF
AND of course, just before the holidays! Pretty cold if you ask me.
@henram36 you gotta wonder why they layer them off, something messed up must've happened
Look, up until March of this year I was an avid player of Destiny 2 for several years, but after the arrival of Lightfall, I was compelled to cease putting my money and time into the game. I have been monitoring the situation in the months since, watching keenly to see if some of the situations with the game had began to improve. It is greatly disappointing to see that it is only gotten worse. Not only that, but then to see that Bungie somehow has managed to end up in a situation where it seems that it's become necessary for significant layoffs and employee cuts, and to see this increase in monetization which seems to imply financial issues, is just disheartening as well as somewhat confusing. My impression was that the purchase of Bungie via Sony was going to help herald in a new era for the company in which higher gear development might be able to take place. Instead we see evidence of more mismanagement and signs of decline. I can only imagine what has happened here, one would think a 3 + billion dollar purchase would provide a more than nominal financial boost and yet somehow we've arrived to this point where Destiny 2 is going to face a delay for its Capstone DLC? What the hell is going on here? It would seem my decision to withdraw from Destiny 2 will stand. I had hoped better things than this.
Well said. Also left back when lightfall dropped. They've been getting lazier and lazier, and frankly it's looking like Destiny is in its death throes. Guess we'll see.
I’m sure the executives at Sony *strongly* considered taking a .0001% paycut to keep these people employed but they just couldn’t swing it 😢
Absolutely disgusting day for everyone, fans and developers alike. But I guess if you're a head at Sony or Bungie, this is just one step towards greater profitability
True. Looks like we are seeing the effects of interest rates in real time.
and greater profitability is all that matters to a *business*
My day is going good thanks.
@@daMillenialTrucker That all sounds great until you realize you just fired your way into not making any content to profit off of. Oops.
Yup, sales lead to profit. Sales down 45% due to toxic social media driven by PvP content creators. All have lost subs because of their stupidity and that's is justice. Never bite the hand that feeds you.
Interesting. I wonder what the number of employees were management or devs.
@@AnthonyJGianotti narrative teams getting cut? Hell yeah, get ready for lightfall campain version 2 with even less story depth
@@iverstaylot00 not sure how it could get much worse. I'm being completely serious.
Long-time composer for Bungie, Michael Salvatori, who has been composing the music for both Destiny and Halo, unfortunately has been laid off, alongside Michael Sechrist, and over 100 employees.
I was already completely put on Final Shape, but this just reinforces that decision. Bungie has absolutely no idea what they are doing. I hope all of these people find a better place soon
I can't understand how we got from the highs of Witch Queen to here. Not preordering Final Shape and I'd advise everyone to do the same
@@RobbieB2606same way we went from Taken King and Rise of Iron to launch D2…or Forsaken to Beyond Light and Shadowkeep. Bungie keeps repeating the same mistakes and thinking they can go back to complacency after delivering an expansion that meets a fraction of what we expected from Destiny at this point in its life cycle.
@@RobbieB2606Witch queen was clearly an anomaly clearly, somehow they accidentally made something decent without actually understanding what they were doing.
The soul of Bungie has been gone for years.
I truly believe that Destiny’s and Bungies best days are behind us
The second they signed a deal with Activision their identity was gone.
Eh Halo fans said this for the past decade. Now it’s Destiny fans, in 10 years it will be Marathon fans lol. The Bungie cycle just never ends.
Hell, even Myth and Marathon fans said the same thing lmao
destiny peaked in age of triumph in d1, d2 peaked in age of triumph before Beyond Light, it will and never has been then same
@@DESCENSUSS disagree with D2. Back in Shadowkeep seasons were kinda bad/mixed (especially compared to now), the story was going nowhere (the only exception to these is Arrivals) and the meta was super boring, sunsetting was the result of this. Plus on old Gen the game was literally unplayable lol. There was no vaulting and it’s a big plus but eh, overall there were MANY bad things of that year.
Agree on D1 because yeah… it’s quite literally the peak, since there was no update after that lol. But it was a great update nonetheless.
@GeremyG COD of duty isn't suffering lmao.
Regarding the heavy monetization, it's important to remember that if a company is focused on bizdev their mission is not to figure out how little money they can get away with making, it's about how much they can get away with making. Even if this was a huge money printing machine for Bungie you could still see this kind of parceling up of every little thing.
It's been management failure since D1Y1, and the split from Activision (while amazing on paper) proved conclusively that Bungie Management are at the heart of the problem. From creative direction, to design mechanics, to monetization, that's been problem. Always has been. Always will be.
Stop. Supporting. Bungie. Find other companies that treat their employees better, and respect their players' intelligence and time. This is a horrible day for Bungie's employees, and my heart goes out to each and every one of them. But by Thursday's TWID, the whole community won't be thinking about this, as they debate over gun changes and ability tweaks, yadda yadda, and that's the saddest thing of all.
Support other companies. This has gone too far now.
Idd like everyone been hapy they get from acrivision influence while it was been thing that actually stoped bungge greed for a moment
Until someone can make an ability shooter that feels as good as destiny then I will be happy and willing to support a new developer. I’m not personally gonna leave a game that feels good just for something subpar. Which is the current state of shooters.
While I feel for those who lost their jobs, it only highlights that Bungie has been the problem this entire time. They've proven over a 10 year period that they can't manage a game of Destiny's scale. They've only proven they can do two things consistently, keep a hype train moving and milking as many players for as much money as they can get their hands on
@jayblack3345 Warframe shits all over it. Has for years. The only reason Destiny's shooting only "feels good" due to insane bullet magnetism and aim assist to the point the game practically plays for you...and the only reason they leaned heavily on abilities and ability spam is counter develop Warframe, which had that on lock years before it. It's why Warframe having "space ninjas" inspired Destiny players to refer to Guardians as "space wizards." Nothing about Destiny is original, or special, or interesting.
Ditch it. Immediately. No excuses.
@@RedShadowOfSaturnDE meatrider knowing damn well digital extreme did the same and cut money to that they have to be buy by Tencent lol sure loser
Cancelled my final shape pre order yesterday. I bought the lightfall edition that included the years seasons upfront and have yet to finish any pass this year. I play for a week or so when a new season launches before losing interest and end up getting the story beats from TH-cam. Maybe I’m burnt out or maybe I’m sick of the reskinned seasonal models, either way I’ve decided I’m not playing enough D2 right now to warrant a final shape pre order. Will wait until launch and see if the story hits right before committing to a purchase. Final shape will more than likely be my D2 final play.
It really sucks for these people that lost their positions. I wish them the best.
That being said, I permanently put this game down last season and it might be one of the best decisions I've made gaming wise.
Been around since D1, and now from the outside looking in, it is constant issues, bad news, community complaints and now this. I do not regret it.
To go back on what they said last February is so sick and cruel. "We won't lay people off because of this" to "We're laying people off because of this." But I guarantee the big wigs are getting their full salary this year. Probably a bonus too with so many people out of a job now.
It never hits home until someone in ur household gets laid off. My wife got laid off today, same day as this story leaks. My wife and I are wondering how we can survive with two kids and one of the only 1 year old. Its scary
The lay-offs really suck, I hope that everyone finds a new job quick.
As for the Final Shape, I guess im now cautiously optimistic instead of just apathetic.
This does not bode well for the future of the game, it really shouldn’t make you more optimistic than before
Yep
Why would this news make you MORE interested? If anything this could decrease quality.
@@moogies3754witch queen was delayed, Lightfall was not
@@moogies3754I believe they meant to reverse that statement. From cautiously optimistic to apathetic.
i knew waiting to preorder was the right call. Mainly job related reason for me. I also thought some bad news would turn up and boom here it is.
never pre order games, there is no benefit
So Bungie... about that "Crucible strike force" eh?
I just want to wish all those talented workers at Bungie who have been affected by this all the best for their future careers and endeavors and my heart goes out to their families that have been also impacted by this devastating news especially the holiday season is around the corner .
it's amazing a company that sold for 3.6 billion, which was estimated to be around US $4 Million per bungie employee feels like they can't afford to keep people on. Bungie employees should unionize.
Not to mention the $100 million they got from Netease 5 years ago to make marathon...
@@THEF4LLOFM4Nthat money is strictly for marathon tho
@@awehy3993 I'm just putting it out there because not alot of people know about them being given that money and it was around this time frame that the quality and size of content has been diminishing in D2. There are rumours that this is because D2 has had a skeleton crew working whilst marathon had the bulk of the Bungie dev team. It just all seems a bit cloak and daggers but I guess that's business.
Part of that 3.6.billion was 1.2 billion for staff retention... Which makes it all even more disgusting.
I’ve honestly been riding the wave of improvements and updates in Halo Infinite since lightfall. Halo Infinite has improved season over season and is in an awesome spot and it’s going in the opposite direction of Destiny.
Im so glad Xbox changed management at 343 and got actual competent developers there, future is looking bright for Halo Infinite now.
@@it2spooky4me79i wouldn’t blame so much the devs. Most people who actually worked on the development of the game were temporary workers. And the game engine is notoriously hard to work with and has a learning curve. That’s why it took so long for content to drop. It was really managements fault for making dumb decisions.
Part of me wonders if Sony is thinking of merging Bungie with another studio they own in the not so distant future.
Can't be worse! 🤞
This is going to be a rough ride. I haven't pre-ordered and definitely won't be any time soon.
Any new context for Eververse will be seen negatively. Player base commitment will dwindle which will in turn make a poor PVP worse.
Sad times for all concerned and the community as well.
I think the simplest and most likely explanation is that Sony finally realized what sensible people have been saying for years that there's only so much room for live service games amongst the player base. It's unlikely there's room for 10 major live service games across the whole industry let alone just at Sony as they were supposedly planning on. Bungie's live service expertise is worth a lot of borrowed money if it helps you make 10 more LS games. But if it is literally impossible for all those games to take off then priorities for money must change.
we just learned that they fired longtime bungie composer Salvatore in the layoffs, too
This is on Sony. They are making some huge changes internally. TFS being delayed for Sony's next fiscal year speaks volumes. They are the one pushing this 99%.
Is a delay a bad thing? I haven’t played destiny in forever so I’m not sure the state of the game
@@ap396z A delay for Destiny 2 is not necessarily a bad thing. WQ was delayed and it came out pretty decent and well liked. Layoffs are also common that when companies are merged or purchased by other companies.
Yea sure it’s all Sony lol 😂
@@ap396zwell its a delay combo'd with a layoff so it's not like it's the same ppl working on the project. It's a bigger dice roll on what we'll get now. I'm in the tech industry and I loosely lump gaming into it. Layoffs are like a pandemic right now in tech. Every time I get on LinkedIn I see that green swoosh saying "Looking For Work." Soooooooo many layoffs this month.
I mean, people used to blame Activision for all the bad shit at Bungie. I don't think it's beyond imagination that Bungie is capable of making it's own bad decisions
They've taken underdelivering so closely to heart they are even underdelivering employees.
Gotta respect the dedication.
Salvatori being laid off is devastating and I have no hopes for bungie at this point, wouldn't surprise me if they end up being closed down by Sony within the next 5 years.
Don't know for some reason Lightfall just ended my excitment for D2, it was shortly followed by that exccessive predatory cash shop "improvement" and it just killed it for me, I played non stop since Season 10 grinded medals, did the hardest content solo but Lightfall don't know man, difficulty curve just went out through the roof, they went to please 10% of the players by killing the rest of average and casual players. Unless you sit there all day long trying to min max things you can't really do "hard" content anymore because everything just shits on you and melts you and that's no fun.
So my question is did they know this when they launched the final shape trailer and preorder sale? What happens to those preorders?
Lightfall could have definitely used a delay (even if small), so it’s not a bad news for TFS at all imo. This dlc is just too important. Same goes for Marathon obviously.
Laid offs are unfortunately common in the industry, this year especially, but they still sucks for everybody. I hope all the talented people that no longer work at Bungie can find a new job as soon as possible
Wasn't the Comms team pretty big now? Like 5 people? Or am I mistaken. Because it used to just be Deej and Cosmo right?
Its an awful time to loose ur job. Bungie should have been clear that jobs were uncertain.
Dropping this on them suddenly is absurd.
I wonder if they'll have to list what aspects of the game they developed/run with AI. It will be interesting to see if that corresponds to departments the people were laid off from.
I was really disgusted by lightfall, but with Joe’s comeback in the light of day, interacting with the community, the changes coming with the next season and the overall transparency I thought we had been having for the past months, my hopes really were starting to come back. Today’s news is really devastating for a fan as invested as I am so I can’t imagine how bad it is for those who are actually (or were) working at the company. I really care about this game, it’s community and the people who make it and I am so tired that these bullshit money driven reasons keep ruining everything regarding destiny as a whole. To those of you who lost there job today, I truly hope your talent is recognized more profoundly in a place where you’ll be rewarded accordingly, in the nearest possible future of course.❤
yeah this is exactly how i feel as well. it is so clear the actual people working on the game care so much for it but they are just not allowed to do anything that might invite financial risk
Your addicted not invested
The FINAL shape is beginning to sound more final for D2. :(
I hope this is the final nail in the coffin to get ppl to realize this game has been done for a while
Any remaining hype/hope for Final Shape just died. I don't understand how we went from Witch Queen to this... complete mismanagement and incompetence
Paul, I really enjoy your opinion on this game and I know it has to suck when you have to make videos or write articles about how things are not going well with a game you really love. There are so many of us that have more time than we'd like to admit wrapped up in this game, and it's been feeling "not fun" for a while now. Anytime anyone loses a job, it's a crappy day. I truly feel bad for the developers involved, these people take a beating from the public and have been the target of steady ridicule from some hardcore "fans". I've been critical of the game, critical of many decisions, but in the end, it's just a game. I'll have fun playing with my buddies, some of them I've been playing with for ten or more years. I hope that Destiny and the crew behind it finds their way. Thinking back on the days of Halo, we used to have 10-15 minutes of fun with complete strangers, laugh and carry on and then it was on to the next match. That quick, fun, repetitive gameplay was what made the game so fun, and it was SIMPLE. No goofy builds, no supers, no stupid movements like triple jumps or going invisible. Guns, grenades, and punching. Destiny has become so complicated that you spend half a day sometimes trying to get the right build for different tasks. The casual player doesn't want to go through all of this just to play a game and blow off steam for an hour or so. The casual player doesn't want to sit through 30 minute videos with titles like "Preparing for Lightfall 10 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now" or "BLAH BLAH RAID drops in two weeks, 20 things you need to do NOW before day one" just to be able to play content that they PAID FOR. Forcing people to play with a particular weapon set to run through a strike because there are certain enemies that can only be killed with particular weapons is not what makes a game fun. Having the resources available IN GAME to run through whatever task you're trying to complete is what makes games fun for the casual player. There are FAR too many "exotic" weapons in the game that do nothing to enhance the gameplay. There are FAR TOO MANY weapons that have perks that are useless, but after a few seasons these perks get buffed and now your useless heavy grenade launcher you deleted after it sat in your vault for 6 months is now the weapon you have to have or you're no longer able to be competitive. Somewhere along the way these game studios lost their way. Simple, repetitive fun that can be had with your friends whether you have 30 minutes for a couple of PVP matches before you are heading out for dinner with your significant other, the kids are off to sleep a little before your typical bedtime, or knocking off a few parts of a campaign before you need to mow the grass are what made the other games enjoyable. Needing to take off work for a whole day to try and beat a raid so you can get enough clears to be considered for an LFG is ridiculous. Most of the adult population that plays these games are casual players with careers, families and things they need to do before they're going to game. Marathon appeared to be headed back into that direction, based on what they were describing. If I could jump in, play a match and not feel gutted for when I needed to leave, that's a huge plus for me. Not having to clear 8 hours of my day to sit and grind out some stupid weapon so I could ATTEMPT a raid really sounds appealing. I really feel that forgetting to focus on the casual player is why the game isn't doing well. I really hope they sort this out.
I’ll be refunding the DLC. Hate companies that do this.
This is pretty disheartening to hear. I was holding on to the hope that the Sony acquisition wouldn't have any negative downstream consequences for Bungie and by extension Destiny. 7 month season memes are already getting tossed about. Not a good day to be a Destiny fan that's for sure.
Other Sony’s studios were hit by laid off as well. Bungie isn’t immune to things like this unfortunately.
The whole industry laid off a lot of people in 2023. Epic cut like 900 employees, MS almost killed 343. It’s a general thing unfortunately. It just sucks.
Yeah… and every Merger has layoffs after a year
what was the “radial mast”?
Sucks to hear about the layoffs, hope they recover and find (likely better) jobs soon.
As for the extra time added to the next season, bring back vaulted content!!! Bring back Menagerie/Leviathan raids (maybe with updates) and the Red War!!!
Sad, but not surprising. This is more of the same. I have been in the industry for 6 years professionally and 4 years as an indie. I am going to look at moving to a different industry at the end of this year. I had a son 7 months ago, and have zero confidence that my job is safe. See ya games industry, it's been a blast.
Dont feel sorry for Bungie. They just suffering consequences of actions and choices from past years and also they deserved it for their greedy practices
the things i want to say to people like you would get me banned. the devs have nothing to do with this, they are the victims here. shareholders and executives are the ones to direct your anger at.
Hold up. You think Im angry? I looking at this obcjectivly. In your opinion theres no consequences for anything?
11:00 real question, when was the last expansion that WASNT delayed?
Out of all the people to lay off, I don't understand why they would lay off Hippy? She was literally the face of the community team after DMG. She had seniority other than Cozmo, and was the most interactive, friendly, and helpful CM out of everyone currently there. I'm sorry to anyone that got laid off but it makes no sense to me to lay off Hippy. Other than Cozmo (who hasn't been doing much on the interaction side lately) she literally was the bridge between the player base and Bungie.
If every team needed to take a hit, and they felt like they could get away with one fewer CM, then a less senior person will get whacked. If you're in the middle sometimes you can be less safe, since you're not so senior that you're hard to replace and the next person down has similar skills but probably gets paid less so they're cheaper to keep. Cozmo is team lead and iirc they have at least one other CM person who's a bit newer.
Yeah honestly I'm uncertain of anything she ever did. I only ever really seen her ranting on Twitter. I'd like to understand though. What was she responsible of? What did she do for the comm team?
@@swarlly I don't know about her non public facing tasks, but she would write up most of the TWIDs these days and presumably do a lot of interfacing with the various development teams to gather and distill all the upcoming development work, events, etc and work with leadership, marketing, legal etc to decide what goes out to the public, when, and in what format. I'm sure each TWID has to get run through a lot of steps before it goes live. There's also work involved in reaching out into the player base for those puff piece interviews they do with this or that cosplayer, running the interview itself, and writing it up. It's essentially a combination of a PR and marketing role, seems to me. Each TWID is a combination of a press release and a newsletter.
why did they layoff people? I'm a bit confused
Then bungie will be like we don’t have a team for this thing in the game. Sucks hopefully they find something greater. Also the waiting to tell people about a delay until June for final shape is weird just let people know now but the reason for the delay would be good to hear if they can talk about it. But then they would be like we don’t have a team for this or that.
I’ve been saying when I see Destiny 2 news (quit for months now, not following in game stuff at this point)
That Sony deal was literally Bungie taking a deal with the devil… and with how things keep getting worse since Lightfall’s release… it’s looking more and more like it…
Hoping for the best for everyone for all involved in the layoff wave… this is the absolute worst time they could have done it with the holidays around the corner too, rather cruel :(
awful actions from a company towards people who have taken so much shit and practically died on the sword for the company. personally I want to never touch the game again - I can't imagine being in your situation, having to cover the game for your job when so many people you've worked with have forcibly been removed
This is what happens when Sony drastically overpays for a studio, stupid purchase, stupid results
This looks to be the end of Destiny and Bungie as we know it.
So we're stuck in lightfall until June?😭
I think bungie is almost done for. Delaying Final Shape and laying off a whole bunch of people is a sign that they're struggling. And, let's be honest, Marathon has a good chance of flopping since bungie doesn't believe in making quality products per their design philosophy, and the team working on that game probably has little/no experience making extraction shooters. If they can manage to whip something good together soon then maybe they have hope but for now I think they got another year or two in them before they're gone.
Well i lost hope for their product when the chose to charge for 5h story expansion > 40$ gl for them and their playerbase :P
I bet preorders are way down because of what happened with Lightfall too. That didn’t help.
Delayed until June 2024 😮!! You know what if it's polished I'll be ok with it. I hope all those layed off the best of luck though
when are destiny expansions polished or not the amount of content is whats been disappointing for years
I have 0 faith that with the dev cuts it'll be polished. How can you take pre orders for an expansion with an announced release date, then fire devs and delay the expansion. Further, it would be one thing if it was an indie developer, but for a large studio that's existed since before I've been alive, and owned by one of the largest entertainment companies one the planet... Yeah, faith in Sony, and by extension exec's of Bungie has been completely obliterated. The devs deserve better, and the exec's deserve the worst. It's easy to fire the workers, I wonder how many of the executive positions are going to be out a job or decreasing their pay, I wonder will there be any apology to the community they've now shafted? Doubt it. IF TFS arrives polished it won't break even in terms of positive vs negative effect IMO.
You said it at the beginning of the video Paul.
Bad Management is what the problem really is.
Joe Blackburn's apology video was not enough for me because I've seen them before from Bungie
and would likely see it again.
The fact that they did the apology video showed just how out of touch they are with the community.
After 9 years i just quit playing and don't see myself returning for the Destiny finale.
Woke purge? xD
Microsoft did say Bungie was a "high burn-rate" risk. Maybe they could see the writing on the wall.
Looks like Bungie killed themselves. Better find other games to play.
Glad I hadn't pre ordered yet
Karma for going woke . Well deserved
GO WOKE GO BROKE, BUNGIE IS THE NEW BUDLIGHT
What’s crazy is i didn’t even know you worked for Forbes until you mentioned writing an article
Did they get ride of the writing team for Lightfall at least?
Saw this on Cross's stream first but had to come back and give you that whole viewing time. Keep up the vids Paul!
What does Paul mean at 00:40 ??? What does forward-leaning mean??
My heart breaks for the employees who lost their job, and just one month before the holidays.
This is exactly what finally pushed me away a few years ago. Pushing the expansion more than a whole season but without adding anything new during that time.
Hadn’t missed a bit of content from D1 up until Beyond Light. Witch Queen got delayed (pandemic - justifiably so) and it caused the last season of BL to be 100+ days longer. That 6+ month final season at the end of a bad year was too much and I’m sure majority of whoever is left will move on before TFS is here.
Really frustrating that across the industry, the people at the reigns are laying people off due to their (leadership's) mistakes in company direction.
Why did Bungie cut staff? Becouse you know the Veil.
So exactly what does Eververse silver pay for now?
This is terrible news. I hope all those laid off find work soon. In terms of the delay this is terrible as it would pretty much cause a content drought thus causing players to leave in droves 🤦🏿♂️
Ok I feel bad too but the social media team is not equivalent to the fire department, come on now lol.
it'd be real cool if they realsed the older D2 raids or something during the gap between season 23 and Final shape
On the topic of AW2, have you played Control? Same universe and such a good game
They honeslty delayed it because of how low pre-order sales were. Bungies really kicking themselves in the ass right now. 😂
I literally pre-ordered Final Shape last night because I was convinced they could pull it off. Time to get a refund I guess.
This really worries me. I’ve already been worried for TFS and now I’m even more worried as it seems it’s funding hasn’t lasted and development power is reduced. I feel awful for all the employees who have to go through this during the time period.
i pre ordered every year of packs for destiny. final shape is literally the first one where i went. "Nah got a weird feeling about it. i will wait." really glad i did. What the hell is going on over there. We need some damn transparency.
This is the least I have played Destiny in a long time as well. Mostly because of burn out, nothing rewarding anymore, game too easy, direction/decisions etc., and of course tons of great games to play and catch up on. Really glad I didn't pre-order Final Shape and I am sure those sales are a factor here too.
If Bungo can’t manage a company after receiving $3+ billion, then Marathon is DOA. There’s no way it’ll be able to make up revenue.
But how about those C-Suite bonuses at the end of the year?
Can I get a refund on a stream preorder?
I bet this is because of very poor reception of the game since Lightfall
Laying off but management bonuses stay robust 100%. They were also probably relieved that Sony asked for a delay since its probably a fucking mess and needs more time like Lightfall was.
from my point of view its a great news, the same people who worked for years to destroy our game are finally out
I feel Final Shape and the episodes afterward were supposed to go out with a bang but looking at it now seems as if they are going out with a whimper.
I told you all… Bungie is scrapping everything now and cashing out on the Destiny game. They’re switching everything to marathon. I also told you that the episode’s are NOT going to happen. They are just saying that it is to “cash out” before they scrap Destiny 2 completely.
It sucks to see anyone lose their jobs but it just doesn't surprise me. The gaming front as a whole seems like its constantly been on a knifes edge for years.