Bungie has said that it won’t be communicating with Destiny 2 players on Reddit to keep its employees safe. This is in direct response to the harassment Destiny 2 developers have faced recently, which also involved some of them receiving grave threats.
Developer harassment in the gaming industry is an utterly disappointing but common sight. There have been several instances of developers from different studios being harassed by toxic fans, some of which also took things too far. For instance, A Destiny 2 player was recently ordered to pay Bungie $500,000 in damages, after being found guilty of harassing and threatening a developer and their spouse. This was one of the reasons Bungie decided to reduce communication regarding Destiny 2 last year as the harassment had become rampant and dangerous. Now, in response to a player’s post, Bungie has explained why it is still not engaging with fans on Reddit.
User Cruggles30 put up a post on the Destiny 2 subreddit urging Bungie to “actually use the (team) account” it made to protect its community managers. In response, Bungie mentioned that while it appreciated the feedback, its developers who aren’t community managers are still being harassed. Bungie also said that harassment cannot become a norm and the team isn’t going to put themselves in danger for a video game. Furthermore, the developer also mentioned that “Until everyone can feel safe again, I wouldn’t expect to see many responses from us here for the foreseeable future.” Despite the reduced communication, Bungie assured the fans that it is actively looking at player feedback and has urged the fans to continue doing so.
The harassment wasn’t just limited to Reddit as Bungie had to disable the comments on a Destiny 2:Lightfall video as fans were harassing developers there as well. Bungie has always been proactive in making sure player feedback is implemented in the game, but such acts forced it to take drastic measures. Hopefully, this communication will help fans understand the gravity of the situation and will improve things going forward.
Bungie is also simultaneously fending off Destiny 2 cheat sellers by taking them to court and forcing them to shut down their services. It has seen a good degree of success in its crusade against cheat manufacturers as it has won at least three lawsuits against different sellers, and has been awarded millions in damages. Bungie’s lawyer has also admitted that suing these cheat sellers is “good business” so the developer is likely to continue its efforts to shut down other sellers as well.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.