This Week’s Meager Future 2 Replace Leaves Followers Feeling Just like the Franchise is at Its Lowest Ebb But, Whereas Bungie Focuses on Attempting to Make Marathon a Success

Future followers are lamenting the way forward for Bungie’s sci-fi shooter franchise, following a threadbare replace this week, launched whereas the developer focuses on supporting Marathon.

Future 2 Replace 9.5.5.5 arrived on Wednesday, and its full patch notes learn as follows:

Common

Fastened a problem the place some weapons weren’t benefitting from their Weapon Foundry Sponsorships when lively.

And that is it. Now, to be truthful, there was no expectation that this week would carry an unlimited nicely of latest Future 2 content material to maintain gamers occupied. Future gamers are additionally nicely conscious of the actual fact Bungie is presently busy attempting to make Marathon successful. However, as one fan put it in response: “I anticipated nothing and nonetheless obtained disillusioned.”

Final month, Bungie introduced through social media that it was delaying its subsequent main Future 2 recreation replace, Shadow and Order, by a full three months — from March till June — one thing it blamed on the necessity to make “giant revisions” to its content material.

On the time it introduced that delay, Bungie averted mentioning its simultaneous launch of Marathon, which might have arrived throughout the identical launch window — presumably to keep away from the suggestion that one venture was sapping assets from the opposite. However Future followers have discovered it arduous to think about a world the place, had Bungie not been additionally centered on delivery Marathon, its revisions to Shadow and Order wouldn’t have to take as lengthy.

Certainly, in its assertion on the delay, Bungie appeared to go so far as it may to sign that issues can be quieter for Future over the approaching months, with fundamental upkeep and stability updates seemingly the one modifications that gamers would see. The studio then thanked followers for his or her “continued endurance and assist,” earlier than affirming that it will launch extra data on the replace “nearer to launch.”

For a lot of gamers, the information felt like Bungie successfully shifting its public give attention to Future to the again burner till the summer season months — one thing this week’s newest replace has solely cemented in followers’ minds, leading to a mixture of frustration and darkish humor.

“Virtually 3 hours of downtime for… this,” famous one fan, in a prolonged thread of complaints on reddit. “A single repair.”

“I am curious – what number of patches have solely ever been one patch observe?” questioned one fan. “Even courting again to Future 1, I really feel like that must be a uncommon sight. Not even dogging on the sport/studio – real curiosity.”

“There’s actually nobody engaged on this recreation anymore,” wrote one other fan. “Dev group is genuinely one half timer huh,” added a second. “So successfully they’ve dropped Future solely to work on Marathon? Sigh, may of at the least launched the DLC you introduced first,” stated a 3rd.

“Subsequent [blog] will actually simply say ‘please play Marathon’,” reads one other remark. “You possibly can solely snicker about it after which cry about what has turn out to be of the perfect dwell service recreation ever,” reads one more.

IGN has contacted Bungie proprietor Sony for extra element on its content material plans and assets out there to work on Future, however didn’t obtain a response. Within the meantime, it stays a tricky time for the developer and the nine-year-old Future 2, whereas there have additionally been combined studies on Marathon’s preliminary launch efficiency up to now.

Final yr, Sony stated Bungie had failed to fulfill its gross sales and person engagement expectations, following a notable drop in Future 2 participant numbers. The harm was unhealthy sufficient that Sony stated it had been compelled to report a 31.5 billion yen (round $204.2 million) impairment cost because of Future 2’s underperformance. That was vital sufficient to pull down earnings at Sony’s Sport & Community Providers Section, which incorporates Sony Interactive Leisure.

“For years now, Future has been on this regular hardening of the core [audience],” Future 2 recreation director Tyson Inexperienced informed IGN again in November. “Increasingly core gamers are staying and taking part in the sport, however comparatively few [new] individuals come into the sport. There is a tightening and contraction, and this presents issues for a recreation that you simply’re attempting to keep up as a dwell service, particularly if you wish to hold serving these core gamers with nice, compelling expansions.” Precisely when these may arrive, nonetheless, stays to be seen.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You possibly can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social