It wasn’t long ago that it seemed unlikely that Destiny 2 would follow the same PR cycle -- beta hype, release love, followed by months of harsh criticism -- as Bungie’s first shared-world shooter. But the number of people playing Destiny 2 continues to drop, rather precipitously, since it hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And there’s some reason to believe next week’s PC launch won’t drastically increase the active player base as much as some might’ve expected.
According to DestinyTracker, the number of people playing Destiny 2 each day has decreased by more than 1.8 million since the game hits consoles last month. Shortly after launch, more than 3.4 million PvE players were logging in across both platforms. That total has dropped steadily over the last six weeks, falling all the way down to 1.6 million this week. And the number of PvP players is even lower, peaking at 3.2 million players and currently hovering above 1.4 million. Those dips aren’t surprising, given the community’s dissatisfaction with Destiny 2’s token system, static loot drops, PvP changes and endgame content. Now some players say they’re canceling PC pre-orders, and plan to avoid the upcoming port entirely, unless Bungie reveals plans to significantly overhaul its latest shooter.
A recently approved Activision patent probably won’t help Destiny 2 build a positive rapport. The patent outlines an idea for a matchmaking system that encourages players to spend more money on microtransactions. Examples include matching consumers with “marquee players” known to use microtransaction content -- why limit peer pressure to live interactions? -- or placing people in matches where guns they just bought (for real money) are particularly effective. If people feel like the guns they spend real money on are more effective, the thinking goes, they’ll continue spending money on their virtual arsenal. Pretty gross, right?
Activision told Game Informer that the patent was filed back in 2015, by an R&D team “working independently” from the publisher’s game studios, and the system hasn’t been used in any existing products. A community manager for Destiny 2 quickly confirmed such matchmaking isn’t used in Bungie’s latest shooter, even going as far as to suggest such mechanics would never be welcome in the studio’s games. But there weren’t any similar promises from Activision.
It’s a troubling development, to say the least, that comes on the heels of widespread condemnation of the loot boxes added to Middle-earth: Shadow of War , Star Wars Battlefront II and other big fall and holiday 2017 releases. It also throws more fuel on the fire of the anti-Bright Engrams crowd. The paid chests don’t impact gameplay as much as some feared when the feature was revealed, and can still be earned in lieu of XP upon reaching the shooter’s current level cap (20). But you can bet there will be many players ready to claim Bright Engrams are just the first step towards something much worse now that this Activision patent is public knowledge. Now they’ll be harder to ignore.
Destiny 2 is currently available on PS4 and Xbox One. The game hits PC on Oct. 24.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Destiny 2 news in 2017 and however long Bungie supports Destiny 2 in the years ahead.
