Have you been following the news surrounding Bungie and Sony, particularly on Bungie’s revenue shortfall? Player count, by all available metrics is down, which is undeniably related to the aforementioned predicament. Players ARE speaking with their time and money. Why then, would Bungie do something that further compromises their standing with Sony? A blunder like this, is a symptom of an unhealthy concoction of desperation and hubris. The bean counters are relying on an outdated FOMO model, that brought them success in the past, when the landscape wasn’t what it is today. People are becoming more aware of how they spend their time with games in 2024, and the number of choices by way of healthy competition is making it even easier.

It’s difficult to know exactly why they missed revenue targets, or why player numbers are down. Player fatigue for a 7 year old game (10 year old IP) surely has to be a consideration. Lightfall sold well, but the story failed to excite many players — I imagine that’s affected sentiment towards seasons, events and Eververse. It’s understandably getting harder and harder to keep players excited about Destiny. When something falls flat, it has a much bigger impact than it used to. If players are moving away from fomo, great, but I doubt it’ll be an instant change for all players. I’m sure there are many who are still motivated by it and it would be more of a gradual decline (if it’s happening at all). From Bungie’s perspective, fomo is still a tool to be used to try and maximise player engagement. There seemed to be quite a few people keen to make sure they got the Guardian Games exotic skimmer before the event ended. Where are you getting your info about player habits changing? Seeing how some people play video games, I am slightly sceptical.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of information out there clearly displaying that destiny, for whatever reason, is not the monster that it was two years ago. with all due respect, that is the current situation by my estimation, so, unless you have proof, otherwise, it’s not a debate that I am interested in entertaining. To be clear, steam chart data is not compelling to me personally, in the face of all of the other evidence out that destiny is struggling. This is the reference point that I am coming from. Im theorizing that FOMO is less than successful based on many AAA titles experiencing record low player counts for their respective communities, in parallel with the addition of similar practices(such as FOMO). I think factually, I could assert confidently, that a lot of choices exist on the market that utilize various engagement tactics as well… While being grounded in some solid data, my theory is certainly not bullet proof. However, the end result, and main line of my point is still valid. There are a lot of games out there to play, all competing for a players engagement. This was not the case, at least not at this level, when FOMO data was proving to be successful in retaining player engagement. I don’t think it’s out of pocket, to at very least suggest that a new gaming landscape could potentially require new solutions to the issue of engagement, especially at a time as critical as now for Destiny 2.

I wasn’t debating Destiny’s current popularity. I was questioning whether video game culture is shifting away from fomo. There are people who study this kind of stuff — I just wondered if you were going on gut feeling or some industry knowledge. Either way, Destiny didn’t survive 10 years off fomo alone. Live service games use all kinds of tricks to keep players engaged and maximise content. I don’t see fomo or live service games disappearing, but it’s possible Bungie’s current model isn’t sustainable (and they’ve already committed to changing seasons/episodes). It seems like a mad schedule to me — one that inevitably harms quality. That’s why I’m a fan of content droughts.