Bungie confirms that for Episode 2: Revenant, it will be releasing the entire story all at once instead of on a week-to-week basis that Destiny 2 players have been experiencing now in Episode: Echoes. With the launch of The Final Shape, Bungie made the decision to move away from the traditional seasonal model for Destiny 2, a content delivery strategy that the game has been utilizing for years at this point. Instead, players were introduced to episodes, which were positioned as being these standalone stories that also allowed the team to continue world building into the future of the franchise.
One of the big criticisms of this current Episodic model is the cadence in which new story content is released. For Episode: Echoes, Act 1 took place over three weeks, with the next three weeks planned as downtime before Act 2 arrives and then on repeat for the third act. The delay in content felt like a sort of time gating that many fans were frustrated by, though there are those who appreciated the time to catch up on things they may have missed before the next story beats appeared. Either way, it appears that the majority of the feedback has pushed Bungie to make a major change in the way it releases new story content starting later this year inside of Destiny 2's second episode.
Following the Episode: Echoes Act 2 reveal stream for Destiny 2, the community team took to social media to announce a big change to how the studio is planning to release new content. Based on fan feedback, Bungie is planning to release each Act's entire story all at once instead of on a week to week basis as fans have seen with Episode: Echoes. Bungie made sure to clarify that it will be monitoring feedback on the change with Episode 2 to see how it goes, leaving the door open for further changes before Episode 3: Heresy arrives in 2025. The studio also made sure to clarify that the current episode would continue as planned for Acts 2 and 3.
Destiny 2 Episode: Revenant Changes Will Likely Impact Retention
Destiny 2 has a wide range of players, so Bungie is largely in a tough position for most decisions it makes. While the hardcore fans will likely love this change by not having to wait long periods of time to experience the story, it will likely result in peaks and valleys of player retention when droughts of content hit for those who have quickly run through the Episode. Either way, Bungie has been working to continue making Destiny 2 easier to follow and fit in many different lifestyles, so changing to a model like this should appeal to many players who can now come and go at their own pace and without having to plan ahead first.
While the news certainly has many Destiny 2 players excited about no longer having to wait, the overall switch to the Episodic model has seemingly been a positive one for developers, even if it may seem very similar to the old seasonal format to players. In fact, the change in direction has already helped Bungie developers craft new experiences, with an upcoming Destiny 2 exotic mission being one of the biggest ever. This was only made possible by the new content release cadence, giving the team enough time to really craft the experience and taking the opportunity to expand what players already know about the Nessus destination.