Update: Jason Sussman is the Senior Environment Artist who contributed his thoughts to the PS Blog. There is no one named Thomas Wallis at Bungie.
Bungie's Jason Sussman, Senior Environment Artist has told the PlayStation Blog that Destiny's PS3 and PS4 alpha is already helping to shape the final game and the beta which begins next month.
The alpha began last Thursday and was originally due to be over by now but the developer announced this morning that it has been extended in order to allow for "dangerous experiments".
There's a rumor that the #Destiny Alpha might be extended to allow dangerous experiments. Play beyond the official close at your own risk!
— Bungie (@Bungie) June 16, 2014
It's unclear how long the extended alpha will last or what these experiments will consist of, however, Wallis revealed how feedback from the alpha is helping to mould the full Destiny experience:
“We’re actively watching people and seeing what they do with our game so that we can make adjustments for the beta and eventually roll these improvements out to the real game. We want to make sure that everyone is getting the best possible experience.
“We’re already making adjustments now – in a lot of ways visually but we’re also balancing things out a little bit. It’s a great way for us to interpret all of the data that goes into our systems.”
Destiny's beta launches next month on PS3 and PS4 first with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One beta coming later and access is unlocked through pre-ordering. The game launches on September 9th worldwide.