Bursting onto the scene in 1994 with Marathon, Bungie has actually been around much longer than some might expect. Though Bungie's Marathon franchise and the Myth and Oni series were all fairly popular, the studio really hit the big time with the release of Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001. Since then, Bungie has been a household name in the gaming industry, going on to forge its own path away from Microsoft, and create the live-service juggernaut series that is Destiny. And while Destiny may be Bungie's biggest project right now, it's got a few other projects on the horizon.
2023 is already set to be quite the year for Bungie. While the developer tries to keep its projects under wraps until they're ready to be officially revealed, Bungie has already let slip that it has some other video game projects in the works, possibly including a mobile version of Destiny. Along with that, Bungie is also set to release one of its most anticipated expansions of all time, Destiny 2: Lightfall, which is quite likely to make 2023 a standout year for the company on its own.
Destiny 2: Lightfall Is Right Around the Corner
Bringing in Destiny 2's sixth birthday in style, Destiny 2: Lightfall is set to release on February 28 2023, just a few weeks away. Based on the few trailers released so far, it truly seems as though Destiny 2: Lightfall may be one of the biggest expansions the live-service game has ever seen. One of the biggest new additions is the inclusion of a new and exciting subclass that makes use of the Destiny universe's mysterious Strand power. Not a lot has been officially confirmed about these subclasses, but each one will receive a new grappling hook-like traversal ability, along with its own set of special attacks that use Strand in creative ways.
Following The Witch Queen's successful approach, Destiny 2: Lightfall is adding a whole new campaign to the game, including its own set of unique enemies, its own engaging narrative, and some brand-new locations. A new army of Cabal forces is set to rear its head in Lightfall, this time being Calus' Shadow Legion, a group of Cabal empowered by Pyramid technology. Players will also be able to explore the capital city of Neptune, Neomuna, along with participating in a brand-new Raid that'll likely be revealed about a week after Lightfall launches.
While Destiny 2: Lightfall is already set to be one of the game's best expansions, fans are always eager for more content, and Bungie is usually pretty good at teasing its future expansions ahead of time. Every year, towards the end of August, Bungie hosts a small presentation that showcases the next year's expansion. Not too much is given away during this event, but fans usually get to see some small snippets of gameplay, along with some story details. So, fans should expect to see more from Destiny 2: The Final Shape in August, likely around August 22, as Bungie tends to host these events on a Tuesday, the day Destiny 2 gets reset for the week.
Bungie's Long-Rumored Destiny Mobile Game Could Rear its Head This Year
Back in July 2022, a report from The Game Post claimed that Bungie had partnered with NetEase to create some kind of "FPS mobile game." Of course, fans' immediate thoughts were that this would be a mobile port of Destiny 2, but that might not actually be what this project is. In fact, according to one of IGN's anonymous sources, this game will "not be connected to Destiny 2," but will be a standalone title. With Bungie not having officially confirmed anything, it's still unclear whether this in-development mobile game will be Destiny-related at all, but hopefully, fans could see more from it in 2023.
Bungie Is Working on More Live-Service Games with Sony
Right at the start of February 2022, a whole year ago now, Sony announced that it was acquiring Bungie. At the time, the gaming public was a little unsure of the reasons behind this acquisition, but it quickly came to light that one of Sony's biggest areas of improvement, at least according to its higher-ups, is its live-service department, and reports started surfacing that Sony wanted Bungie to essentially teach them how to do well in the live-service market. According to recent reports, Bungie has several unannounced projects in the works for Sony, and it's a good bet that at least some of these adopt a live-service approach.
While practically no information is available on these titles yet, it seems likely that fans will at least get to see one of these revealed by the end of 2023, most likely being Bungie's long-awaited project Matter. First teased back in 2018 when Bungie trademarked the name "Matter," this project has been on the cards for quite some time now, and fans are expecting Bungie to officially announce it at some point soon. It's unclear whether this game is the NetEase mobile game, one of Sony's upcoming live-service titles, or something completely new altogether, but whatever it is, it's fairly likely that Bungie will reveal it by the end of 2023.
This is all the more likely because Bungie stated that it's planning on releasing at least a new IP by 2025. According to some job listings from 2020, Matter will apparently feature a more lighthearted tone, and it's possible that the game will be set in some sort of fantasy-inspired world, with swords and mystical creatures. Some concept art released last year in a Bungie recruitment video may also hint at this fantasy setting, with images of floating islands adorned with vibrant foliage.
Source: The Game Post
Source: IGN
