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Written by Oluwaniyi RajiDestiny 2 Game Director Joe Blackburn Departing From Bungie Next Month
Written by Wesley LeBlanc
Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn will leave Bungie next month. He announced this news on X (formerly Twitter) in a thread about a studio ritual called the "End-to-End playtest." In this same thread, Blackburn revealed that longtime Bungie developer Tyson Green will become the new Destiny 2 game director.
"This ritual will be especially meaningful to me personally, as it will also serve as a moment to pass the torch of Destiny 2 game director to the next era of leadership as I head on a new adventure outside the walls of Bungie," Blackburn writes on X. "As we hit End-to-End next month, Tyson Green will take the reins as Destiny 2 game director. If you've followed Bungie for any length of time, you've heard his name. From Halo PvP to the creation of exotic weapons in Destiny 1, Tyson has been a critical part of Bungie's legacy since Myth II."
As we hit End-to-End next month, Tyson Green will take the reins as D2 Game Director. If you’ve followed Bungie for any length of time, you've heard his name. From Halo PvP to the creation of Exotic weapons in D1, Tyson has been a critical part of Bungie's legacy since Myth II.
— Joe Blackburn (@joegoroth) January 31, 2024
As for the special ritual playtest, Blackburn says, "It's multiple days of consecutive internal playtesting that not only generates incredibly valuable closing feedback on everything coming this summer, but also spiritually kicks off a shift towards bug fixing and polish work."
He adds that heading into this playtest, he has hundreds of hours in Destiny 2's upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, which will close out the game's decade-long story arc, the War of Light and Darkness. And through those hundreds of hours, he believes "what the world-class talent here at Bungie has created has quickly become [one] of the things I'm most proud of to have worked on throughout my career."
The Final Shape was set to go live in Destiny 2 next month, but back in November, it was delayed to June 4. Blackburn's departure comes just a few months after Bungie laid off roughly 100 employees in October.
How do you feel about this passing of the torch for Destiny 2? Let us know in the comments below!