Future 2 is at the moment in a tough spot. Participant morale is at an all-time low, tanking after a spherical of Bungie layoffs and information of a reported delay for the upcoming The Ultimate Form growth. And whereas Bungie is utilizing the delay to double down on making certain the brand new growth is a smash hit, critical issues about Future’s longevity are cropping up. Even when The Ultimate Form proves to be all the things Bungie guarantees, inescapable components persist in opposition to the sport.

However the state of affairs didn’t get like this in a single day. Bungie’s selections reportedly got here after noting the title’s yearly income would fall 45% beneath expectations. That sharp decline is symptomatic of points which were constructing for years. And with participant sentiment the place it’s, alongside a projected content material drought and a perceived “endpoint” at The Ultimate Form, it’s exhausting to see a brilliant future forward for Future 2.

Bungie doesn’t have an excellent status with gamers

Gamers’ animosity towards Bungie is nothing new. And pretty, any studio taking over a sport with the scope of Future ought to count on a level of backlash in some unspecified time in the future. However Bungie has grow to be notorious for among the selections it has revamped the span of the Future franchise. Although the studio typically tries to make amends with the neighborhood, it tends to be too little too late.

In fact, one of the vital distinguished stains on Bungie’s status got here when Future 2 noticed most of its early content material vaulted. Bungie defined that it was a obligatory evil with a purpose to maintain including to the sport and later promised the apply would finish. Nonetheless, the act angered veteran gamers and made it unimaginable for brand spanking new gamers to expertise the story-centric sport absolutely.

Frustrations had continued, whether or not due to half-baked seasonal content material or ever-increasing monetization. Nonetheless, it got here to a head in 2023 as sport outages and error codes regularly left gamers unable to log in. In some circumstances, routine weekly resets would flip into a number of hours of downtime. This got here after neighborhood posts highlighted earlier back-end work on sport stability.

Most just lately, Bungie promised that studio jobs would stay unaffected by Sony’s acquisition of the corporate in 2022. Because the neighborhood noticed first-hand, this was not the case. Only a day earlier than Halloween in 2023, Bungie laid off 8% of its workers, or round 100 workers, with out discover. This, naturally, led to followers vocally criticizing Bungie on social media.

Engagement was already sinking

If Bungie’s layoffs and delays are certainly attributable to income loss, the seemingly offender is engagement. Many components can have an effect on whether or not gamers are actively romping round (and spending cash) in Future 2. Typically, these circumstances may even be out of Bungie’s management — just like the excellent collection of video games launched all through 2023.

Outdoors of the 12 months being filled with bangers, it’s simple to acknowledge Lightfall as a serious miss for Bungie. Coming off of the stellar The Witch Queen growth, Lightfall had excessive expectations. Whereas it could initially promote nicely and supply Future 2 with its highest headcount, Lightfall wouldn’t land. Bungie later admitted that Lightfall‘s supply was off, however the injury was already achieved. New gamers, lured by Lightfall‘s hype and burned by the fumbled story, could be hard-pressed to place additional religion within the sport.

With most of Lightfall‘s development squandered, Bungie must hope that Seasons 21, 22, and 23 proved alluring sufficient to reengage gamers. Whereas Seasons 21 and 22 had some nice content material, they did little to stabilize the inhabitants. Now, with Season 23 on the horizon and the potential for it unexpectedly inflating to 6 or seven months, it’ll be harder than ever to persuade newcomers to hitch the sport. And that’s topped by these actively canceling their The Ultimate Form preorder in gentle of Bungie’s layoffs.

This inhabitants and engagement drawback is a tough one. Future 2 is about to enter one of many sport’s most sterile and empty durations, already at a participant deficit. With the title largely populated by veteran gamers who might have already hit a degree of burnout, an overlong season with an absence of content material received’t assist bolster numbers earlier than The Ultimate Form.

There’s nonetheless fear even when The Ultimate Form is nice

Even when The Ultimate Form is healthier than favored expansions like Forsaken and The Witch Queen, Bungie will nonetheless have a frightening hill to climb. Particularly, it’s because, for higher or worse, The Ultimate Form is billed as the top of Future‘s preliminary saga.

Whereas Bungie relied on Future veterans to hold the title via its worst instances, the upcoming growth will act as an exit for a lot of gamers. With no new expansions confirmed, and with three longer “Episodes” changing the standard 4 yearly seasons, it feels rather a lot like The Ultimate Form is the sport’s ultimate act and Episodes are an epilogue.

Although Bungie has repeatedly said that Future will go on after The Ultimate Form, nobody is aware of in what capability the sport will proceed. And these worries haven’t been soothed after the Bungie layoffs included central figures like composer Michael Salvatori. With the preliminary saga concluding, decade-long Future gamers might hardly be blamed for hanging up their hats after The Ultimate Form.

In fact, this solely reintroduces the issue of engagement. With an anticipated dropoff of those who Bungie normally banks on to play Future 2, will the sport be capable of make up these gamers? It’s actually doable. But it surely received’t be simple, given the continued disastrous state of the brand new participant expertise.

The place can Future go from right here?

Some have famous that this predicament would possibly sign that it’s excessive time for Bungie to start out contemplating a successor to Future. The thought of a Future 3 has some benefit. It might successfully act as a tough reset and a degree of pleasure for longtime, burnt-out gamers. The identical may very well be stated for these hesitant to take part within the hellscape that’s making an attempt to start out Future 2.

That stated, it could imply that longtime Guardians must face some scary modifications. Gamers would seemingly have to surrender their hard-earned loot once more, be taught the intricacies of no matter new techniques the sport would possibly deliver, and lose entry to much more beloved content material. This, after all, doesn’t sit nicely with each participant. And who’s to say the sport wouldn’t simply stumble again into the identical points?

No matter the place gamers stand on a Future 3, there doesn’t appear to be any indication that it’s one thing Bungie has lined up. Whereas there’s no telling what the long run would possibly deliver, the present plan is to proceed using out Future 2. Rather a lot hinges on the success of The Ultimate Form. Right here’s hoping it serves as a triumphant turnaround quite than a nail in Future’s coffin.