Although sunsetting has technically stopped being a factor in Future 2 in 2022, the idea remains to be looming over the sport’s proverbial head because of its long-term results. Notably, the neighborhood nonetheless needs for a few of Future 2‘s vaulted content material to return, with Black Armory spearheading the record.

Future 2‘s Black Armory is a novel piece of kinda-sorta seasonal content material that got here out earlier than Bungie settled on the sport’s present, transient seasons. Whereas trendy seasons (e.g. The Season of the Want) get fully faraway from the sport upon the discharge of a brand new DLC (The Remaining Form, on this case), pre-Shadowkeep seasons caught round for years at a time, and Black Armory was considered one of them.

Notorious for its ridiculously arduous Niobe Labs puzzle and beloved for its loot design and selection, Black Armory typically will get introduced up by nostalgic neighborhood members for example of content material that Bungie should deliver again. But, to this point, Bungie’s completed little greater than to pay lip service to the thought.

Future 2 gamers need Black Armory again

Extra particularly, it was again in November of 2022 that Bungie’s weapon designers spoke on the subject of Black Armory content material coming again. “The second there’s a Black Armory story beat or an Ada story beat or one thing, you may anticipate Black Armory weapons to return again,” they mentioned, as caught by Paul Tassi. Certainly, as we wrap up the troublesome 12 months of Lightfall, the story of the top of Black Armory, Ada-1, has been virtually fully sidelined.

As problematic because it may be to pivot complete narrative beats to serve a “easy” neighborhood request, it’s arduous to disregard the truth that folks have been asking for Black Armory gear to return for years now. Working example:

• “Bungie must deliver again the Black Armory weapons,” mentioned Wynah 4 months in the past.
• “Convey Black Armory weapons again into the fold,” mentioned MNneck 10 months in the past.
• “I’d like to see the Black Armory weapons again,” mentioned Revan_IV a 12 months in the past.
• “Please deliver again Black Armory weapons as craftable weapons,” mentioned Robotic_Hoodini a 12 months in the past.
• “Having [Black Armory weapons] sundown and faraway from the sport nonetheless to this present day is not sensible and IMO is the most important travesty,” mentioned h34vier 2 years in the past.

All of those Reddit threads are extremely upvoted, with customers typically commenting how they’re nonetheless holding round sundown, out-of-date variations of Black Armory weapons only for nostalgia’s sake. Within the case of Reddit consumer Renolber, funnily sufficient, they bought hate mail for utilizing the sundown Black Armory pulse rifle in Quickplay PvP.

This record of threads discussing the (potential) return of Black Armory weapons to Future 2 is exhaustive at a look, however it simply scratches the floor of the broader discussions surrounding the subject.

Is Black Armory coming again in The Remaining Form?

The Season of the Want, fascinating although it could be, hasn’t been the strongest send-off for Future 2‘s established seasonal mannequin. After The Remaining Form DLC releases in June, Bungie shall be switching gears and altering the way it approaches seasonal content material with the introduction of Episodes. Three Episodes have been revealed to this point: Echoes, Revenant, and Heresy, and it’s fully potential that Black Armory gear may seem in considered one of them.

With Tyson Inexperienced taking on as the brand new Future 2 Recreation Director, it’ll be fascinating to see how totally different his tackle the sport’s live-service development may be, in comparison with what Joe Blackburn was doing. It’s no secret that the sport has had a really tough 12 months, with issues popping up virtually all over the place one may look. Bungie suffered severe layoffs in October 2023, for one, and the corporate ended up shedding plenty of neighborhood goodwill over its staccato of stumbles.

Reintroducing Black Armory gear by itself, in an improper context of an entirely unrelated seasonal launch, can be a misstep in and of itself, although admittedly a minor one at that. If dealt with accurately, nonetheless, and bundled in with one thing smart and satisfying to the neighborhood, Bungie might use Black Armory weapons to underline a larger success after The Remaining Form comes out.

Who is aware of: perhaps Bungie is aiming to reprise the legendary Scourge of the Previous raid and reintroduce Black Armory gear that means. With the vast majority of Future 1 raids having already been introduced again into the limelight, bundling Scourge and Black Armory gadgets with one of many upcoming Episodes would virtually actually thrill gamers. But, presently, months forward of The Remaining Form‘s launch, we are able to solely cross our fingers and see what Bungie has in retailer for us.