This year Steam fell prey to the Spotify Effect. This entirely new term I’m coining right now which is when a brand releases a recap of how you used the platform over the year. Valve released Steam Year in Review and Destiny is the only game I have played every month in 2023.

On the heels of The Witch Queen, Destiny 2’s best expansion since Forsaken, the expectations of millions of players were pinned on Bungie’s shoulders and while there were some wins, by all accounts, this year was terrible for the developer.

With Season of the Seraph winding up by March, Bungie released its penultimate expansion, Lightfall. The expansion introduced a new sub-class in Strand, which launched in a decent state. There was a litany of weapons with Strand damage, the abilities were well-balanced for the most part and being able to grapple through the game was never going to be boring.

Unfortunately, Bungie missed the mark in the story for Lightfall. The expansion introduced some intriguing threads but failed to explain them at all or very well. Sloppy jokes pervaded the dialogue of what was meant to be a rather grave matter. Thankfully, the campaign was rather short-lived but given how good Bungie’s storytelling has been in the years prior, this was a miss that stung.

After outcry from players, Bungie said it would continue to tell the story of Lightfall throughout the year which sounded good at first blush. As we’ve moved through the year, however, that has meant cutscenes locked behind seasonal content and radio messages that weren’t immediately visible to players. It’s all just felt a bit half-baked to be frank.

Of course, not all expansions can be wins (see: Curse of Osiris, Shadowkeep, Beyond Light) but with Lightfall being the penultimate expansion, players expected more from the developer.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Had a terrible expansion not been bad enough for players, what followed was a parade of middling seasons with repetitive content. Season of Defiance saw players teaming up with Mara Sov once again as we traversed the Ascendant Realm and fought off Calus’ remaining forces. For a season that immediately follows an expansion, it was a bit of a letdown, especially with the many questions hanging over players’ heads after Lightfall. The Exotic mission was okay but not on the same level as previous Exotic missions like Presage or The Whisper.

With a return to Titan on the cards, Season of the Deep looked intriguing. With missions below Titan’s oceans, an encounter with a Leviathan, a “Taken” Guardian and a secret mission, this season was very interesting. It also explained the story of the Traveler, the Witness, the Veil and more which was welcome but a bit late in the day. What irked us however was the failure of the Exotic mission for this season.

The mission built on the Deep Dive activity which could already be completed in multiple ways. This created confusion in the matchmaking for this activity which was also tough as nails. It was the latest in a long line of bad decisions that made it seem as if Bungie wasn’t paying attention to what players wanted out of the game. As we would learn later in the year, Bungie staffers felt the same way.

Pride comes before the fall

Following Season of the Deep, Season of the Witch was next in line and with the heavyweights of Savathun and Eris Morn driving the story, it looked like Bungie was back in form. Crota’s End returned as a free Raid for all players, and the seasonal activities in Altars of Summoning as well as Savathun’s Spire were very enjoyable.

In fact, for the first time since Season of Plunder, we were having fun in the game and interested in chasing loot. Bungie released a free, swish-looking set of armour for all players after outcry that it hadn’t refreshed playlist armour in a while and all looked to be going well.

But again, the cadence of content meant that before long, playlists were empty and those who remained waited for matchmaking to finally find others to complete basic seasonal activities.

Towards the end of October, a rather interesting secret was discovered in-game but it was quickly eclipsed by awful news coming out of the Bungie offices.

The developer reportedly fired 8 percent of staff suddenly and without warning the day before Halloween. In the weeks and months since several reports have detailed the frightening conditions employees have had to deal with while the executive team enjoys basic things like job security.

Several employees have said that executives have threatened to execute more layoffs should things not change but frankly, it’s Destiny that needs to change.

The game suffers from ever-increasing monetisation be it for cosmetics or content in the game with very little given to players for free. The new player journey has consistently been criticised especially as regards which expansions and DLC need to be purchased to access everything. While Destiny has managed to stay afloat in the face of constant “Destiny Killers”, recent events have pushed players away and it’s become increasingly clear that the only Destiny Killer, is Bungie itself.

There is a very sour taste in the mouths of Destiny players at the moment and while it’s often said to be tricky to separate the art from the artist – or in this case the game from the developer – it’s becoming easier for Destiny players to do just that. While the developers, writers, artists and others involved in the development of the game are praised, there is disdain for the team managing things and making awful business decisions.

This coupled with a player base that is dialing back its playtime doesn’t bode well for Bungie as it prepares to wrap up its biggest project since Halo. Let’s hope 2024 can improve the state of the studio.