It’s Time For Destiny 2 To End, But Bungie Must Make Destiny 3

For as long as I can remember, Destiny has been part of my gaming life.

I’ve poured thousands of hours into Destiny and Destiny 2, experiencing nearly every high and low imaginable: The original loot cave, The Taken King, Curse of Osiris, Forsaken, sunsetting, Lightfall, The Final Shape, and now the beginnings of the Fate saga.

Every time I thought I was done with Destiny, Bungie found a way to pull me back in. That’s why the recent news surrounding Destiny 2 hit harder than I expected.

When it became clear Destiny 2 was effectively finished, it felt bittersweet. The game has been there through so many stages of my life, from discovering the original Destiny at 13 to now being in my mid-twenties. Some of my favorite gaming memories came from late-night raids and going Flawless in Trials with friends.

Honestly, I was okay with it ending. After nearly a decade, Destiny 2 felt like it had reached its natural conclusion with The Final Shape. It felt like the perfect moment to look ahead to Destiny 3.

Instead, reports suggest Destiny 3 isn’t even in development, and that’s unforgivable.

Destiny 2 Was Never Meant To Last Forever

After nearly a decade, Destiny 2 began to feel weighed down by its own history. The onboarding experience is confusing for new players, PvP has felt neglected for years, and content vaulting remains one of Bungie’s most controversial decisions.

Even as someone who loves the franchise, I can admit Destiny 2 went through rough periods. Over time, it became harder to ignore the feeling that the game was stretching beyond what it was built to handle.

That’s why The Final Shape felt so important. It wrapped up a decade-long saga in a satisfying way and felt like the perfect opportunity for Bungie to reset the franchise while Destiny was still standing on top.

That’s what Destiny 3 could have brought back. Instead, Bungie’s focus shifted toward Marathon.

Marathon Has Inevitably Hurt Destiny

If I’m being honest, I think I resent Marathon to some degree.

Not the developers or even the game itself. I actually reviewed Marathon positively and defended it when it was “cool” to hate the game online—I was even called a Sony shill!

I genuinely think something is interesting there. The gunplay is incredible, the atmosphere is strong, and mechanically, it still feels unmistakably Bungie.

But Marathon’s existence has undeniably impacted the future of Destiny.

For years, Destiny 2 has felt like a game slowly being stripped for parts. Reports pointed toward developers and resources being moved to Marathon, including much of the PvP team. Then came the layoffs following The Final Shape, making it difficult to ignore the feeling that Destiny was no longer Bungie’s priority.

You can feel it in the game itself. PvP stagnated, content cadence weakened, and the narrative introduced plot threads that now seemingly lead nowhere.

When player counts dropped, people used that as proof nobody wanted Destiny anymore. I don’t think that’s true at all.

Players didn’t suddenly stop loving Destiny’s universe; many simply became exhausted with a live-service model that increasingly felt directionless while Bungie’s attention shifted elsewhere.

Destiny Fans Aren’t Done With The Franchise

Despite everything, Destiny still has a level of loyalty most live-service games could only dream of.

The final update, Monument of Triumph, arrives on June 9, and fans are already planning to overload the servers one last time to show Bungie that the community is still there.

Of course, player numbers will fall afterwards—the game is ending, after all. But this isn’t about proving people want to endlessly grind Destiny 2 forever; it’s about proving the fanbase still exists and wants more from the franchise itself.

Then there’s the petition calling for Destiny 3, which you can sign for yourself here, and it’s nearing 300,000 signatures. Sure, signing a petition is easy, but that isn’t really the point. What matters is the sentiment behind it. Hundreds of thousands of people cared enough to say they aren’t done with Destiny yet.

Even now, during one of Destiny 2’s darkest periods, with new content endlessly delayed just to be cancelled, its player numbers still surpass Marathon. At the time of writing, Destiny 2 has a 24-hour peak of 18,000, surpassing Marathon’s 12,000—and that’s only looking at Steam.

This is all despite Marathon being a relatively fresh release with a new season on the horizon, and again, I want to stress that I like Marathon quite a bit! But unfortunately, it will never hold the same emotional attachment or long-term investment that Destiny has built over an entire decade.

That’s also why tensions online have become so volatile. Some Destiny fans actively root for Marathon to fail because they blame it for Destiny’s decline. I don’t agree with attacking the game or its developers, but after years of watching Destiny stagnate while Bungie’s focus shifted elsewhere, the frustration is understandable.

In an ideal world, Bungie could fully support both franchises. But with layoffs, financial struggles, and Destiny increasingly feeling deprioritised, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Bungie made its choice—and it chose Marathon.

Sony Is Making A Huge Mistake

That’s why I think Sony is making a huge mistake by not pursuing Destiny 3.

Not because Destiny 2 should continue forever, but because Destiny as a franchise still has enormous potential. A sequel could provide a fresh onboarding experience, new systems, new enemy factions, and most importantly, a reason for players to feel excited again instead of exhausted.

Because while I may be done with Destiny 2, I’m still desperate for more Destiny.

And I think Sony and Bungie are dangerously close to misunderstanding the difference.

Do you think Destiny 3 needs to happen? Or do you wish Destiny 2 could live forever with new content and updates? Or am I hanging onto the past too much and need to find a new game? Let me know your thoughts in the official Insider Gaming Discord Server!