After weeks of speculation and insiders confirming what we already knew, Bungie has finally acknowledged that, yes, The Final Shape is being delayed until June 4th of next year. This comes after massive layoffs and other poor choices leading to a massive player decline, forcing Bungie to beef up The Final Shape to compete with the likes of The Taken King and Forsaken, Destiny’s most beloved expansions. Here is what Bungie had to say:
The Final Shape is the culmination of the first ten years of Destiny storytelling and, for Guardians everywhere, countless hours spent together. We want to honor that journey, so we’re taking the time we need to deliver an even bigger and bolder vision, one that we hope will be remembered and treasured for years to come.
Naturally, this change brings up questions about our upcoming release calendar. Season of the Wish begins tomorrow and will extend until the launch of The Final Shape in June. While the majority of content and narrative for Season of the Wish will run from late November to February as originally planned, the team is adding new content available for all players to jump into until the launch of The Final Shape.
In February, this will include new weekly progression-based quests called Wishes, and the launch of Moments of Triumph with unique rewards. Next, we’re moving Guardian Games up to March with a refreshed focus on class vs. class competition. Then, beginning in April, we’re delivering a two-month content update available to everyone called Destiny 2: Into the Light, which will prepare players for their Guardian’s journey into the Traveler. All of this is in addition to the ongoing efforts from our PvP Strike Team, including three new PvP maps dropping in May.
We know you’re eager to get your hands on The Final Shape. In that sense, delays aren’t fun. For our part, we are excited to have the extra time needed to bring our vision for The Final Shape to life for all of you. We’re looking forward to sharing much more in April, including all-new gameplay, to showcase the significant content additions currently in development.
Thanks for reading and for being on this journey with us.
– Destiny 2 Dev Team
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The official Destiny YouTube account also posted a video about the delay, featuring Game Director Joe Blackburn. Joe says things are coming but does very little to explain or elaborate much on any of what’s coming. Just a lot of “we got things cooking, bear with us” but to many, this may come as far too little and much too late.
The vagueness about what we can expect from “Into the Light” and this new content is typical of Bungie. For some, this may be enough to pique their interest while others will find this to be less than intriguing. Still, at least it’s something. Then again, perhaps Bungie could take this time to fire up the community with something more concrete with specifics. God knows they could use all the help they can get to win players back right about now.
