Despite initial positive impressions, Destiny 2’s post-launch path has been a bit rocky for a variety of reasons, from unpopular core design choices to poorly-explained throttles on progression. Bungie are making changes to address the feedback, but it’s difficult to push back against a wave of negative sentiment from the community.
These are the best weapons for raids in Destiny 2.
In today’s financial earnings report, Activision addressed what they call “some real sentiment issues,” which led to a drop in player engagement after the first two months. As analyst Daniel Ahmad notes, their acknowledgement of the drop likely means it was significant.
Despite that drop, they say that Destiny 2’s first expansion – Curse of Osiris – managed to outsell the original game’s first bit of extra content. They also confirmed that the PC launch was the biggest in Activision’s history, and the game was the second highest-grossing console title of the year in North America.
As for those “sentiment issues,” Activision specifically attribute the lack of late-game content when speaking with investors. They say response to Bungie’s changes has been positive, and point to a “major expansion” later this year as an opportunity to reconnect with players.