Destiny 2 has had a rough ride in recent months. Bungie upset fans with its shoddy implementation of microtransactions, hidden XP throttling, and poorly communicated Faction Rally token tweaks. The developer has since apologised for each misstep in turn, however a quick glance at the game's subreddit suggests players' patience is wearing thin.
Now, a Wall Street market analyst has declared Destiny 2 as "not in a good place", with player interest in the space opera shooter in decline.
As reported by CNBC, Doug Creutz, of financial services firm Cowen, reckons Destiny 2 is faltering—the reasons for which he detailed in a note to clients entitled "Destiny is Not in a Good Place."
It reads: "While Call of Duty: WWII clearly had a great holiday, which likely sets up strong franchise live services revenue in 2018, Destiny 2 is struggling right now with player engagement appearing to be on the wane. We are a bit cautious that potentially disappointing live service revenue there could at least partially offset upside from CoD in 2018."
Creutz blames Destiny 2's end game—which he says is "neutered" compared to its forerunner—and Bungie's implementation of microtransactions as reasons behind the game's decline. He also suggests the developer's response to player feedback has lacked urgency, and that its failure to adequately outline the game's roadmap has put players off.
According to Creutz, Twitch viewership is also at a "franchise-low" averaging 4,000—7,000 last week, against the original Destiny's 14,000—17,000 this time last year.
"We do think Bungie still has some opportunity to fix the game's problems over the next year and recapture engagement, but we're not sure they have the ability to pull it off at this point," adds Creutz. "We also note that Destiny currently has more serious competition in its genre from a refurbished Division and the indie title Warframe than it did three years ago, when D1 had its own share of player dissatisfaction."
We've reached out to Bungie for comment on Creutz' claims. We'll update as and when we hear back.
