In a post on the Bungie blog, the developers of Destiny 2 made the announcement that the next expansion, The Witch Queen, will be delayed into 2022. The team cites its ambitious narrative as well as Covid-19 complications as to why it will be delayed.
Assistant Game Director on Destiny 2, Joe Blackburn, made the announcement, detailing exactly why the team felt necessary to delay the expansion out of 2021. Most notably, Blackburn cites the health of the Bungie team and makes mention of the Covid-19 pandemic and the complications working from home has caused in ensuring that each update is delivered at the quality the studio expects.
"With COVID-19 keeping us away from the office, and the large amount of work on our plates, we needed to move the date in order to make sure that both this year's updates and The Witch Queen were both delivered at the quality we strive for, and on a schedule that made sense for everyone involved."
Blackburn also details how the action-MMO's narrative has evolved and the studio's desire to make The Witch Queen a crucial moment in the storytelling of Destiny 2's narrative.
"The Witch Queen represents an important evolution in the ongoing story of Destiny 2. Beyond Light built the foundation and allowed us to weave the world-building of Destiny and Destiny 2 together, but The Witch Queen will light the fire on a strongly interconnected narrative across Lightfall and beyond, unlike anything we’ve ever attempted before, with characters, arcs, heroes and villains that persist over multiple future releases."
Blackburn also made mention of a new expansion beyond the already announced Lightfall, aimed at completing what Blackburn called the "first saga of Destiny."
This news comes amongst the backdrop of Bungie announcing it plans to bring another new IP to the market before 2025. For those playing Destiny 2, its Season of the Chosen is now live in the MMO, giving players new seasonal challenges to get through before it ends on May 11th.
