When Bungie announced its first project following its separation from Microsoft,Halofans were eager to see what corner of the galaxy the studio would take them to next.Destinylaunched in 2014 to generally warm reception, due to its solid gunplay and art direction. The title fell short for most in its brief campaign and sparse end-game, which encouraged grinding, but despite this, there was a promise of more exciting content on the horizon, and fans found comfort as they played with and against fellow guardians.Destinyended seven years shy of its impressive ten-year road map, followed byDestiny 2in 2017. Bungie plans to maintainDestiny 2for as long as possible with no publicly announced plans forDestiny 3, but ithas a new live service gamein the works among several other alleged projects.
In order to avoidDestiny 2collapsing under the weight of its content, or making aDestiny 3, Bungie committed to cycling old content out when adding new content. This content vault became another point of contention among players who disliked losing their favorite campaigns and raids in favor of new content. Bungie insisted this change was necessary at the time, but announced an end to the vaulting of expansion content in August 2022. However, this hasn’t stopped the studio from seemingly neglecting player-favorite game modes, with many asking foran update on the future of Gambit. Regardless of these issues, it could be an outdated engine that ultimately forces Bungie to move on fromDestiny 2.
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Bungie is Determined to Maintain Destiny 2’s Tiger Engine
Built on the same Tiger Engine that brought players everyHalogame sinceCombat Evolvedbegan development in 1997, it’s no surprise that the ambitiousDestiny 2is showing signs of wear. The game frequently undergoes maintenance following major updates; changes and added weight seem to take their toll on Tiger Engine now more than ever. While maintenance and bugs might be expected from a studio’s first live service IP, especially one of this scale and quality, fans have come to the conclusion that the engine is to blame for nearly all ofDestiny 2’s shortcomings. Many even claim they would be willing to leaveDestiny 2behind for a third entry built on a new engine. A recent job listing onBungie’s careers page calls for Unreal Engine 5 developers, so Bungie may be looking to leave the Tiger Engine behind withDestiny.
Destiny 2has incurred a litany of issues since its launch, but many players have noted an increase in frequency of glitches and server outages. Many prominent streamers have taken to YouTube to offer Bungie concise guidelines as to what they believe should be done to fix their favorite game, which typically includes the call for a new or totally revamped engine. The recent mid-season update included bugs ranging from simple to game-breaking, like the Guardian Games statue displaying the incorrect winner from last year, painfully crunchy audio issues, or frequent crashes when joining King’s Fall. As a new season approaches, fans continue to voice their concerns and offer change suggestions, like areworking of the recently added Stasis fragments.
Bungie has made it clear it has no intention of massively overhaulingDestiny 2’s engine any more than it already has, and it claims there will not be aDestiny 3. Many fans wonder if the engine can support further updates, andBungie’s failure to fully disclose patch noteshas drawn the ire of players once again.
The truth is, despite the Tiger Engine being about as old as the averageDestinyplayer, it’s a fairly solid engine. To replace the engine a game is built on is not so simple, and abandoning its proprietary tools for another engine or building an entirely new one brings with it the time and effort of rebuilding the very workflow of a studio. Perhaps the mention of UE5 in various job listings is a sign that Bungie is moving on from Tiger Engine with its upcoming projects, but ifDestiny 2is the end of the line for the IP, it’s likely the game will never exist on another engine—at least not for quite a while. Either way, though,Destiny 2will one day come to an end just like other MMOs, and the Tiger Engine’s issues make it feel like that end could come sooner rather than later.
Destiny 2is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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