UPDATE: 12:37p PST (08/01/24): Multiple sources have confirmed the existence of “Payback” and its cancellation. Destiny 3 has allegedly never been in development.
Just to clear up some rumors floating around, Destiny 3 was not canceled because it was never in development, per people familiar. Bungie did some very early work on a spinoff project called Payback, but they canceled that a while ago. I'll have a story tomorrow with more info
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) August 1, 2024
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
In a move that has shocked and dismayed the Destiny 2 community, it has been revealed that Bungie has cancelled a massive engine upgrade and overhaul for Destiny 2 amidst ongoing layoffs. The overhaul project, codenamed “Payback,” was set to bring huge upgrades and modern features to the game, including ray tracing, better optimization, and more. This initiative also allegedly included plans to rename Destiny 2 to simply “Destiny,” signaling that Bungie was never planning a Destiny 3. Instead, Destiny 2 would be the one and only Destiny game, with future expansions and content drops continuing indefinitely.
This bombshell news comes from credible industry insider Jeff Grubb, who shared the information on Giant Bomb’s YouTube channel as part of their ‘Game Mess Mornings’ feature. Grubb’s revelations add another layer to the chaos and disarray currently engulfing Bungie.
Adding to the dismay, Bungie will allegedly no longer be making further expansions for Destiny 2. Instead, the company plans to deliver smaller and lighter “Content Packs.” This shift comes as a direct result of the poor leadership under CEO Pete Parsons and his fellow C-suite executives. As the Destiny 2 staff is let go and morale reaches rock bottom, fans in the community are demanding Parsons step down.
Boy, it really is a good thing that Parsons and his cronies aren’t doing as much damage as possible in an attempt to bring the walls down around them at Bungie before they allegeldy leave with massive payouts over the next year and a half. Thank goodness for that, right? Oh, wait…
The cancellation of the alleged “Payback” project and the shift away from major expansions may just mark the beginning of the end for Destiny 2 as fans know it. Not to be all doom and gloom or anything, but how the hell else are fans supposed to take this news? I mean, Jesus EFFING Christ. This comes despite the critical acclaim for The Final Shape expansion, though we do not know how many units it sold or how well it performed financially. Apparently, it didn’t do all that great. Especially considering dwindling player count numbers over the last month or so.
In the midst of all this turmoil, it’s comforting to know that the shameless and greedy Pete Parsons can still afford to buy more classic cars with the money he made off firing more than a quarter of Bungie’s overall staff, allegedly, over the last year. Yay for that!
Keep in mind that there is no way for us plebs to confirm that this is 100% factual at this point. Grubb has credibility and given the current circumstances going on at Bungie, this is entirely plausible. However, keep in mind that Sony/SIE may step in at any given point and completely alter the course for Destiny 2. We really do not know what the future holds but whatever it is, we just hope it is without Bungie’s current leadership. What a disgrace.
