Opinion: Why Destiny matters

It's been ages since Destiny was first revealed to be Bungie's next big project, the product of the studio's 2010 contract with publisher Activision. If certain easter eggs are to be believed, Bungie has had this franchise in mind for far longer than that. Tomorrow is the day that Bungie's latest labor of love finally sees the light of day in its finalized form.

There's no secret that Destiny has been lined up to not only be one of the biggest games of the year, but the next great video game franchise. The aim isn't solely to be a great game, it's to be a gaming phenomenon, not unlike Bungie's last major series. So it's safe to say that a lot is riding on Destiny becoming a success. So on the eve of the game's arrival, Shacknews examines Bungie's latest from several perspectives, analyzing exactly what Destiny means to them.

The publisher

To say Activision has put a lot of eggs in the Destiny basket would be a massive understatement. It's hard to forget that CEO Bobby Kotick famously put the game's budget at a cool $500 million, making it the most expensively-produced game ever made. It definitely shows, between the big-budget trailers (including the live-action launch trailer from the director of Tron: Legacy and the other live-action CG trailer produced by Jon Favreau), the top secret data center, the Google Maps-powered Planet View, the Paul McCartney soundtrack, the insane marketing tie-ins, and all the work that went into both the alpha and the beta. Activision wants to get their money's worth and anything short of a video game culture-changing blockbuster will be considered a failure.

They'll never admit it, but Activision is standing at a crossroads. The Call of Duty franchise that has sustained them for well over a decade continues to show decline, the result of the law of diminishing returns. A large number of the publisher's most reliable developers have been shuttered, including Neversoft, Bizarre Creations, and Radical Entertainment. A handful of others, like the remnants of Neversoft and High Moon Studios (who had suffered their own employment apocalypse), have been shifted to helping keep Call of Duty afloat. Their other successful franchise, Skylanders, remains hot, but is facing its greatest threat to date in the form of the Disney Infinity machine.

It'd be slightly hyperbolic to suggest that Destiny represents Activision's future, but look at the lengths they're going to in order to ensure its success. If Destiny falls short, it stands to be one of the company's biggest failures ever. It would mean they still wouldn't have a successor to Call of Duty. More than that, it could lead to the publisher (as well as all AAA publishers, in general) re-thinking their entire approach to games across all facets. Many consider Destiny to be a sure-fire success, but the thought of anything less most likely has Activision sweating.

The developer

There's a lot of pressure on Bungie. It goes beyond Activision's massive expectations and its bloated budget, which the developer has since gone on to try and downplay as much as possible. When one thinks of Bungie, one naturally thinks of the Halo franchise. These are the people that changed online multiplayer gaming on consoles as gaming audiences knew it. They single-handedly helped make Xbox Live and online console gaming services, in general, what it is today. They defined an entire console gaming generation.

For Bungie, Destiny is their chance to prove that they have more in them than Master Chief.

Bungie's ambitions for Destiny have been laid out before. They don't want this to solely be a futuristic sci-fi shooter. They want it to be a social experience, in which friends can get together and explore vast environments, finding new adventures every day. Even in single-player, Bungie wants players to feel like they're connected to a larger world, one that surprises them with every new session. In short, Bungie wants to re-define the genre completely.

Many games enter the gaming landscape with an aim to re-define the way games are played. Only few are ever successful. Even the most hyped releases suffer from short attention spans, as Titanfall players on PC will attest to. If Destiny fails to meet its lofty expectations, it pigeonholes Bungie into the role of 'the studio that once made Halo.' And with 343 capably carrying the Halo flag into the future, even that label doesn't carry as much weight as it used to.

With all that's been put behind its development, Bungie is aiming for Destiny to be their magnum opus.

The console makers

Even with new console sales through the roof, those that have adopted an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 are noticing a distinct lack of must-own games. Software sales have declined over the summer, with both Microsoft and Sony waiting for a blockbuster to help boost both hardware and software sales. Destiny looks to be that title.

Sony has invested heavily in Destiny, as indicated by the number of PlayStation-only gear, the console bundle, and timed-exclusive content. They already have a handy lead in the console wars, but they're hoping Destiny gives them a major push. Given that many of their first-party exclusives, like The Order: 1886, won't hit the console until 2015, Sony is banking on Destiny to be a big success.

Microsoft should be far more concerned with Destiny, given how much Sony-centric marketing the game has received. There's a good chance the average consumer doesn't even know that Destiny's coming to their consoles. In fact, they've had to resort to phony fragarance ads (that have since been removed) just to get the word out there. With Xbox One continuing to lag behind PS4 in sales, Microsoft is hopeful that its audience (many of whom purchased Titanfall, Destiny's closest competitor) will pick up Bungie's latest and help give them a shot in the arm.

Regardless, Destiny is one of the few games this holiday season that will carry a console-exclusive designation. Without the Steam beast to push them around, it's a chance for the next-gen consoles to prove what they're truly capable of. It goes farther than technical capabilities, but also the social aspects Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Most importantly, however, Destiny is also yet another test of those services' infrastructure. If Destiny sputters out of the gate due to network issues from either XBL or PSN, it stands to be another black eye to a pair of services that have already seen their share of issues over the past few years. Given that even single-player needs an online connection, Microsoft and Sony had better have their services ready, lest they face a major customer backlash.

The gaming public

We save the most important one for last. Why does Destiny matter to the average video game user?

Video games are undoubtedly at their best when there's something new to get excited about. It's been difficult to generate excitement with AAA publishers have pushed out insipid sequels, uninspired rehashes, boring reboots, or worn-out trends. For better or worse, Bungie is trying to create something fresh with Destiny, even if it does look like a run-of-the-mill futuristic sci-fi shooter. And if some of our community threads are any indication, this looks to be far from the usual 'space marine' shooter.

Games that transcend genre are ones that pave the way for future game developers. They're games like Super Mario Bros., Halo: Combat Evolved, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, and Journey. They're ones that make developers stand up and say, "I want my next game to be inspired by that." Destiny stands to be more than a fun experience with friends. If it succeeds, it could be influential to future developers. That could be the greatest reward of them all for anyone that plays video games.

At the end of the day, that's what everyone that's ever picked up a video game should root for. Destiny represents something new, something different, and the potential for change. Remember the earlier points of what would happen if this game fell short? The points about Activision's introspection, Bungie's pigeonholing, and Microsoft and Sony's sales? Those all pale in comparison to what would happen to the gaming public if Destiny doesn't perform to expectations or if it fails to live up to its potential. Destiny's failure would let a lot of people down and turn the gaming landscape into a more cynical place.

Tomorrow, the gaming world finds out if Destiny can live up to its potential and become the game-changer that everyone hopes it can be.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?