The final two months has been a rollercoaster experience for Future 2 followers, from the heights of the critically-acclaimed Remaining Form enlargement to the depths of downsizing on the studio that made it and experiences of main shifts and deserted ambitions for the sci-fi MMO. Future 2 will proceed, perhaps much more sustainably, however not as followers have identified it, or some had hoped it could.
Final evening, Large Bomb cohost Jeff Grubb reported that Bungie was stepping again from Future 2’s massive annual expansions to concentrate on smaller “content material packs” that might launch alongside different episodic updates. And right this moment, Bloomberg shed extra gentle on these modifications, reporting that as a substitute of main new paid campaigns yearly, these smaller content material drops would purpose to be free and modeled after Future 2’s current Into the Gentle replace which added a horde mode and plenty of new loot for gamers to gather.
Bloomberg additionally reported that an in-development venture known as “Payback” was canceled earlier this yr. It could have been extra of a Future spin-off than a sequel, with third-person motion and a concentrate on exploration and team-based boss fights, probably within the vein of Warframe or Genshin Affect. However along with that recreation being canned, the layoffs this week had been a part of a reorganization that included cuts to Future 2’s audio, story, and participant assist groups. Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, longtime veterans who had been regularly the face of Future as just lately as this yr (and had been reportedly engaged on “Payback” based on Grubb), had been additionally laid off.
Maybe essentially the most disappointing information for some followers, nevertheless, is that there’s no Future 3 on the finish of this lengthy, darkish tunnel. In keeping with Bloomberg, it doesn’t exist but and hasn’t been in improvement. Whereas that doesn’t preclude it from taking place sooner or later, it’s clear the current downsizing means Bungie is targeted on sustaining Future 2’s precarious current and transport its new extraction shooter Marathon in 2025, versus opening up a very new chapter within the sci-fi universe it spent the final decade making.
In keeping with reporting by Recreation File, the upheaval for Bungie and Future 2 wasn’t inevitable nevertheless it was a very long time coming, spurred by overly optimistic plans in the course of the pandemic years from studio management and declining gross sales of every new Future 2 enlargement. If there’s one shiny spot in all of this for gamers, it feels like the sport’s onboarding can be a foremost focus transferring ahead, serving to new gamers expertise the enjoyable however notoriously complicated and convoluted loot shooter.
