Destiny players won't have to worry about the servers shutting down any time soon—and it's not just due to the popularity of the game. Bungie and Activision have pledged to support the series for at least 10 years and Destiny and its expansions are just the start of it.
While we didn't cover it at the time, it's relatively well-known that the developers of Destiny have a 10-year plan in store for the franchise beyond the release of expansions for the first game.
Bungie engineering lead Luke Timmins stated in an interview today that players will not have to create new characters to experience the future of Destiny. In fact, they will be able to use their existing characters from the first game to experience future add-ons, sequels, and DLC with the same character for at least ten years.
“We certainly take it seriously that Destiny is a ten-year thing," said Timmins in an interview with GamesRadar.
"It’s a long-term thing and with these adventures that we’re adding my contract to you – and any player – is that your Guardian will always be there. We’re going to keep adding new stuff for you to do and I’d hope you’ll look at The Taken King and be like, ‘I’m looking forward to logging on again and hooking [up with] friends online’.”
Given that Destiny characters are basically the total sum of the gear they equip, it'll be interesting to see whether Bungie intends for players to import their characters and their existing loadouts into future titles. It would be disappointing if players weren't able to bring along their Gjallarhorn and Suros Regime into the next game.
It'll also be interesting to see how Bungie balances existing imported characters with newly created ones in upcoming sequels.
That being said, it's doubtful that the PS3 and Xbox 360 will see the release of Destiny 2 and future sequels.
Destiny's The Taken King expansion pack comes out on the PS3, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on September 15, 2015.
