In August 2016, the fanbase of the hit game series Destiny was agog with excitement over the prospect of the game developers introducing mechanics for private custom matches. While the feature has existed since games like Goldeneye 007, it went largely unacknowledged and underappreciated. But in 2016, they had become a big deal, but Destiny was still lacking them.
At the time, Bungie, the developer of Destiny, was one of the mammoth players in the gaming industry. As the pioneers of the eSports genre, their games were all the rage and dominated competitive gaming for the longest time. While Bungie never quite got around to making Destiny into an eSports title, they did manage to influence a sector that is the highest it’s ever been today. eSports betting online is possible thanks to them, allowing for fan engagement during gaming tournaments. So we are in a dispensation where we could watch player versus player (PVP) events like regular sports tournaments and stake them in the same way.
While this seems like a huge deal for Bungie, the studio gave up on eSports with Destiny in 2014. And even though they tried reinvigorating the idea for Destiny 2, it didn’t come to fruition. Instead, the game focused on Player versus Environment (PvE) gameplay, leaving behind the likelihood of Destiny and its follow-up appearing on the eSports scene.
Worse still, it came after they made plans, knowing that fans of the Destiny series were all too eager to start private tournaments, especially after the upgrade. Bungie even went the extra mile to draft up guidelines called the “Competition License,” which highlighted the only proper way to host potential tournaments. They included broadcasting limitations, prize pool inhibitions, and other restrictions to avoid misuse of game and game materials.
The Big Question
The new feature updates and Competition License stoked the flames of expectations. Everyone had the same question: will Bungie turn Destiny into an eSport?
The problem with answering this question was Bungie’s to deal with, likely because it was doubtful if they could put together the organization needed for an eSports league. Given how vast and unending the challenge of regularly developing new content for the game, it’s understandable why the studio went quiet. It wasn’t huge enough to designate an entire section of its workforce, efforts, and resources into developing the next Destiny eSports scene.
Will the 2020s Be the Decade of Bungie’s eSports?
In 2022, Bungie appears to be retracing its steps. Their new franchise, which is shrouded in mystery for now, and will exist side by side with Destiny 2, would supposedly be built for competitive eSports. The idea is to develop the next competitor to market dominants like Call of Duty, CSGO, and Valorant.
The new franchise was discovered from a Bungie tweet, which only tells us that the new addition to the Bungie lineup will come with competitive PVP playlists. And while these details are barely enough to go by, it’s caused some excitement among fans of the gaming outfit.
The prospect of the masterminds behind Halo getting back into the gaming space after a dry spell is intriguing. But we can’t expect to see what they’ve been up to anytime soon, and we can expect their newest IP anywhere from 2025 and beyond.
For now, though, the studio is focused on releasing new Destiny IPs, like Lightfall and The Witch Queen. There have been whispers of a secret expansion in 2024.
