What are Destiny’s next steps post-The Final Shape?

Destiny 2’s next expansion — and the last installment in the Light and Dark saga, The Final Shape, is set to release later next year after the recent layoffs at Bungie delayed the DLC from February to June. While Bungie maintains Destiny 2 will continue past The Final Shape, they haven’t exactly been clear on how it will continue.

Something’s gotta change

The Final Shape is supposed to cap off the first 10-year saga that Destiny players have been fighting through since the game launched in 2014. Unfortunately, with the poor player reception to Lightfall, the game’s most recent expansion, and low player interest due to, well…a lot of things, players are just about ready to throw in the towel and call it quits.

Bungie has announced that the seasonal model will change in 2024 (though it’s currently unclear when in 2024), as seasons themselves are being replaced with “Episodes.” These are longer, more in-depth periods of storytelling and rewarding content.

On the surface, this looks to be a good change for the game, since players have been sick of the same seasonal routine that’s been utilized year-after-year for…too long. But is it enough? Will Episodes boost player interest and investment enough to keep them coming back time after time?

No more annual DLC?

Some players have also suggested the idea that after The Final Shape launches in June, Bungie is going to stop producing annual expansions and will just continue with the Episode model from that point on. This seems…unlikely.

Bungie is well aware that players tend to take breaks from the game towards the end of a season, in fact, they encourage players to take a break if they’re feeling burnt out. However, Bungie is also well aware that their highest engagement comes from raid races and expansion drops.

To think that Bungie would just completely pass up on the massive numbers that annual expansions provide them just doesn’t seem practical.

The end of Destiny?

No. Destiny is not going to end after The Final Shape. Even if the current story is wrapped up nicely at the end of the expansion, there is zero probability that Bungie kills Destiny after The Final Shape.

For starters, until Marathon, Destiny is the only IP that Bungie has on the market. It’s their moneymaker. If Destiny ends, Bungie ends. Simple as that. For now…

If Marathon and/or any of the other IPs that Bungie’s working on end up being a massive hit and bring in a game changing amount of revenue for the studio, then maybe they’ll pull the plug on Destiny if they’re tired of working on it. Even then, I doubt it’s going to happen anytime soon.