Today's Destiny 2 The Final Shape Launch May Be The Most Important Day In Bungie's History

In just a few short hours, Destiny 2 is scheduled to kick off the climactic conclusion to almost a 7 year story (10 if you want to be technical on the story itself and not tied to Destiny 2). The shooter's The Final Shape expansion is set to take players directly into the heart of the Traveler and nostalgic memories will be aplenty on the journey.

It's a big moment for Destiny 2. Expansion launches are always big moments for MMOs. However, The Final Shape isn't just another expansion launch.

Bungie has had some serious ups and downs when it comes to content, management, and overall player satisfaction. Since Sony's purchase of Bungie back in 2022, the company has been looking to Bungie's community management technology to help them create at least 10 new live service titles by 2026...a target that seems to have been scaled back in the wake of Jim Ryan's departure from Sony.

Then things took a bit of a darker turn. Layoffs were announced at Bungie as part of cost-cutting measures and as part of an effort to stave off a potential takeover by Sony. There were even reports that Sony could restructure the entire board at Bungie should the company fail to meet financial targets by "too great an amount."

We also saw The Final Shape delayed from February to today's June 4th date to give the expansion "time to become exactly what we wanted it to be."

And so the day has finally come.

Destiny 2 expansions are usually hit with relatively positive reviews right out of the gate. As players make their way through narrative experiences that Bungie is generally (with a few exceptions) good at producing, players usually enjoy the initial ride. Where expansions fall flat sometimes is in the long run. As a live service, Destiny 2 relies on a compelling gameplay loop that players actually have fun and engaging reasons to hop into over and over. PvP in the Crucible, interesting dungeons for PvE players, raids, and open world public content drive the game. So does the loot and the class abilities (Prismatic looks pretty cool, btw.)

These are areas where Destiny 2 sometimes falls short, particularly that last one, the loot. Hell, Bungie even managed to upset its players a bit recently on that front when old loot had its power limit removed, despite the fact that many players probably dismantled that loot BECAUSE it had a power limit.

That says nothing of the cash shop mistakes the game has made in the past, either. In more recent days we've seen the cash shop being tied into multiple Sony properties via crossover sales, too.

Today, The Final Shape opens, and it's got to perform on a number of fronts if Bungie hopes to stay somewhat independent. While we certainly won't have the full answers for at least a few months, the expansion needs to first sell well. While I may think the that expansion's $50 price tag is absurd (it is), it needs to sell.

On the backside of those sales, it needs to see a positive reception not just right out of the gate, but also a month or two down the road. Are the system updates and additions interesting, seen as fair by players, and most of all, are they fun? Having a cash shop is great, but if no one sticks around to use it, it doesn't matter.

Here's the sad part of all of this. On Sony's side, this will likely come down to one simple thing: money. Sure, that's always a company's primary concern when launching a product, but it can't be the only concern. In this case, though, I think it is. Sony is going to sit and just watch for a while. How are box sales? How is player retention and is that leading to Eververse sales? Did you make enough?

Bungie's in a spot I don't envy. They can make a great expansion that players absolutely love, but if that doesn't translate into revenue quickly, Sony may pull the trigger on board changes without a second thought.

I wish Bungie luck as it wasn't the staff that got the company into this unenviable position, it was the management (or lack thereof in some cases.) If The Final Shape disappoints on the revenue side, though, we'll be looking at a very different Bungie 6-12 months from now, if not sooner. 

It's a make or break moment for Bungie today. Enjoy The Final Shape!