A former Bungie narrative lead who worked on Destiny 2 for a few years calls the experience the "most toxic, dysfunctional" of his professional life. Despite that, there's plenty of praise for the people who put the space MMO together – praise that also comes from many other alumni.
Since Bungie revealed that Destiny 2 is being sunset, we've seen plenty of reactions online from developers past and present, as well as other creatives who have been impacted by the game. Now, we have a collection of tributes from former Destiny 2 developers saying goodbye to the game, courtesy of the folks over at Aftermath.
It's well worth a read if you've spent a lot of time with the game, as it reads like a nostalgic trip down memory lane. An interesting throughline is developers succeeding together despite the environment they found themselves in.
"Working at Bungie was the most toxic, dysfunctional experience of my professional life," former lead narrative designer Michael Zenke says. "But the incredible people that I got the chance to work with were some of the best in the world at what they do, and I consider all of them friends to this day."
Former QA test lead Uriah Belletto shares: "As sad as it is to say, it felt like at some point the people in charge forgot that people play games for fun. They didn't understand that people would play Destiny just to dress up their character, more or less. So of course silly/fun things were still enjoyed.
"Working on the [raid and dungeons] team was great too because it was the one place that you could really push for breaking bones."
Another narrative designer, Ash Poprik, also has praise for the team they worked with: "I am very sad at how Destiny 2 was cut short, but I am so incredibly grateful and proud that my time there was useful and valuable, both to players and to myself. This team was really special. I feel like everyone I worked with was not only talented, but unbelievably compassionate. I really hope I cross paths with those devs more during my career because they were a breath of fresh air."
It's certainly the sort of sentiment we've seen elsewhere. Previously sharing their thoughts online, former music designer Nadia Wheaton recalls how her own team "worked so hard to maintain the quality bar under unrealistic constraints ." Or, as former writer Robert Brookes simply puts it: "It turns out the real Destiny killer was Pete Parsons."
The best of times, the worst of times. Thankfully, in addition to the kind words, you've got Destiny 2 players making sure the game goes out how it's always operated – through fan-found discoveries leading to bosses being pushed off ledges or absurd, unintended damage numbers.
