Tag: Bungie

Bungie finally admits an open secret: “Destiny is too complex”

It has been ten years since Bungie released its saga Destiny, and to celebrate, there has been a monumental change in its annual release model: in 2025, Destiny 2 will have expansions every six months and free updates every three. The MMO has no choice but to diversify and make playing it easier. And for Bungie, that means two words: Metroidvania and roguelike.

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How to play this?

Being honest, if you start playing Destiny right now, it’s most likely that you don’t even know how to start playing or what your objective is. And Bungie has realized this, as stated by its director, Tyson Green: “Destiny is too complex. With literally hundreds of activities, you practically need a PhD to decide what to play and how to get the rewards you’re looking for.”

And for that, Destiny 2 has become much simpler thanks to the user activity menu, which “will make it easier for everyone to find and start them.” In other words: after a long time listening to people saying that it’s a great game that no one knows how to start playing, Bungie has taken matters into their own hands and made it slightly easier, but just as deep.

“The goal is to reduce the ‘tasks’ you have to do before entering an activity,” says Green. Just listening to him, you realize that they have been working for years on how to improve the user experience through a menu that is now finally simple and intuitive to use, but still needs months of refinement. The important thing is not to be stubborn… even if it’s a decade late!

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Bungie takes people who cheat in Destiny 2 to court

Bungie has taken people who create cheats for cheating in Destiny 2 to court, something that could determine whether cheating will be illegal from now on.

Cheating in a video game is not illegal. No one can prosecute us for using cheats, even if it goes against the game’s terms of service. Of course, they can prevent us from playing if they catch us, but not much more. Something that may change in the near future, as Bungie has started the week by going to court against cheaters. Something that we still don’t know how it will end.

In 2021, Bungie sued AimJunkies, a distributor of cheating software in video games. In turn, AimJunkies countersued Bungie in 2022, accusing Bungie of illegally accessing their computer and infringing their copyrighted material. In 2023, part of the accusation was concluded through arbitration, with Bungie winning $4.3 million in the process. AimJunkies did not accept this and appealed the arbitration decision, accusing them of disregarding certain rules when making that decision.

This means they will go to trial starting this week. Something that will be the first lawsuit related to cheating in video games to go to trial. Does it have any potential? That is the question. The arbitration determined that AimJunkies violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, so there is a possibility that Bungie will win. The reason is that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has anti-circumvention rules and by bypassing Bungie’s security measures and trafficking in software designed to circumvent those measures, AimJunkies would have violated this law.

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Of course, the clarity of this situation is, at the very least, doubtful. Phoenix Digital, owner of AimJunkies, has stated that since they did not create this software, they cannot be accused of anything. Especially when cheating in a video game is not illegal. Something that makes the outcome of this trial questionable.

Although they will have to resolve the appeal in the future, this trial will resolve the question of whether cheating is a violation of copyright. If Bungie wins, there is a possibility that cheating may become legally punishable. If AimJunkies wins, it is expected that no one else will seek to bring these issues to court. So, whatever the outcome, things are going to change in the gaming industry for a while. Just in time for their new expansion.

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Bungie could end up becoming part of Sony… and it will all depend on ‘Destiny 2’

The contract included a clause that made it very clear that if the studio did not meet its financial goals, Sony could take control, fire all the leaders and make it their own. And you will never guess what happened.

3600 million dollars. That’s the amount Sony paid in 2022 to acquire Bungie, once the flagship of Microsoft with ‘Halo.’ But by now, we should know that signing in blood and in front of the devil doesn’t usually bring anything good. The contract included a clause that made it very clear: if the studio didn’t meet financial targets, Sony could take control, dismiss all the leaders, and make it theirs. And you’ll never guess what happened.

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Thing of destiny

Initially, everything looked good: Bungie would remain an independent studio, and Sony had nothing to say about it. But of course, in 2023, they fell far from their goal. How much? By 45%. Neither the ‘Lightfall’ expansion nor the number of ‘Destiny 2‘ players are enough to keep the studio afloat.

For now, the 1100-person studio has managed to stay afloat by cutting staff (and thus, turning a profit), but all eyes are on June 2024 when ‘The Final Shape,’ the next expansion for ‘Destiny 2,’ will be released. It could either revive the game’s interest to its 2017 launch levels or condemn not just the title but also the studio.

Bungie isn’t devoid of other prospects: ‘Marathon,’ their highly anticipated shooter, is set to release in 2025 (at least for now). The only uncertainty surrounding it is whether their issues stem from decisions made long ago within the studio that have led to serious internal problems or if, on the other hand, they’ve been due to Sony‘s expectations in setting the year’s objectives. Either way, it doesn’t seem like Bungie is eager to jump for joy right now, and the festive season might not be so festive for them.

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The High Price of Online Misbehavior: Penalties Reach Up to 500,000 Euros

A player harassed the community manager of a major multiplayer game and justice will make him think twice about doing it again.

Many people believe that being a horrible person on the Internet has no consequences. And we’re not just talking about occasional insults. We’re referring to individuals who engage in persistent harassment, death threats, and behaviors that would be considered serious crimes and incompatible with being a functioning member of society in any other circumstance. That’s why it’s good news to discover that Bungie, the creators of Halo and Destiny 2, have taken action when one of their employees has been involved in such circumstances.

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Jesse James Comer has been ordered to pay $500,000 to Bungie for orchestrating a harassment campaign and revealing personal information about a Bungie community manager after the manager praised the work of a content creator of color. According to the court of Washington State, Comer began by making threatening phone calls to the personal phone of the Bungie CM, and then continued with his spouse. This escalated to a later incident where he ordered a “disgusting, virtually inedible pizza” from Domino’s, instructing the delivery person to call at least five times and stating he would pay in cash upon arrival. This was a way of demonstrating to the Bungie community manager that he knew their address and could go after them if he desired.

Comer documented all of this in a Steam group called terr0rgang, which maintains a collection of sound files classified as “ear rapists” and is allowed for use by its members as part of their terror campaigns. Comer utilized this only hours after sending the pizza.

After the pizza incident, Bungie took action. They sent “executive protection” to ensure the safety of their community manager and their family, hired private investigators and external advisors to identify and bring Comer to justice. Once his identity was known, they pursued legal action, which resulted in a half-million-dollar fine. This substantial amount will deter Comer from engaging in similar actions in the future and will set a precedent for other similar cases. The next time someone considers such behavior, judges will have a verdict to rely on. And $500,000 is not an amount of money that many people can afford to pay for the sake of amusement or “lulz.”

Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.