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Activision Is Unhappy With Destiny 2 Forsaken Sales

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In a recent call with investors it was revealed that Destiny 2 Forsaken hasn’t lived up to Activision’s expectations. The expansion, which released on the 4th of September this year, delivered more content than has ever been seen before in Destiny 2. forsaken might have murdered Cayde-6, but it completely changed the way Destiny 2 is now being played, bringing a new area and brand new ways of playing to a game that was getting stale fast.

However, sales of the Forsaken expansion, which were available as standalone purchases or as Annual Pass purchases which include future planned DLCS, haven’t been as high as Activision wants them to be.

In the investor call Activision said that they are preparing to monetise Destiny 2 in new ways, providing more income and a faster content model. Right now we can buy cosmetics, including Exotics, from Tess Everiss and the Eververse Company. I don’t choose to spend money here, but plenty of Guardians do and that’s perfectly fine. What isn’t a good idea is locking content that’s more than cosmetic behind a paywall, such as new Exotic weapons for example.

Bungie has worked tirelessly since the launch of Destiny 2 to make it more of a game that Guardians want to be a part of. The weapons system has been overhauled multiple times, and the way in which Guardians explore and earn new loot has been optimised to make it easier and more lucrative to complete the daily and weekly tasks. The return of bounties provides more direction for Guardians when they do play, making their time feel well-spent instead of dwindled in various activities. The way new content with Forsaken is being drip-fed is particularly great, because it keeps the game fresh and interesting, with there always being more to find just around the corner of the weekly reset.

Activision had hoped that Forsaken would draw lapsed Guardians back into the game, and those who had dropped their playtime to a few hours a week just to complete certain tasks back to playing for more hours a day. This hasn’t happened yet, and Activision said that they’re still waiting for the core player base to re-engage with Destiny 2. They believe that the reason for this is that most Guardians are in ‘wait and see’ mode, waiting to see if Forsaken is worth their investment in both money and time.

The recent offer to PC players, which is presumably where Destiny 2 is lacking in Guardians, that brings them the base game for free seems to be an effort to engage more people in the Destiny universe. Once they’re in and up to the level cap of 20 in that base version, Activision hopes that the Guardians will invest in the three available expansions in order to progress to the top level of the game.

To some Destiny is a franchise that’s been irrevocably damaged by broken promises and bad DLC launches in the past. What many aren’t aware of is that Destiny 2 has restored many Guardian’s faith in the franchise through fixes that are a direct response to their feedback, and colossal expansions instead of minor mission and area additions like we saw in Destiny 1.

In order to add new monetisation options to Destiny 2 Bungie would need to make them more present and obvious to players. They might even need to make them feel necessary by linking them to Triumphs or other forms of progression in the game. Right now the monetisation is at a level that it doesn’t ruin the immersion and gameplay investment. Any more and Bungie is at risk from hurting their players again.

Considering that when an Exotic Iron Banner Emote was locked behind microtransactions the community was outraged, I can’t see a way that Bungie is going to add to them without causing a rift between fans. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image Source: Nerd On! The Podcast

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan and player. I fell in love with Destiny 1 during the early alpha and have been hooked by the universe ever since. I really enjoy playing with other Guardians, speculating about the lore, and writing about as much of the Destiny universe as I can.

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