Weeks after confirming layoffs that had to be leaked before they acknowledged it, Bungie is once again making frustrating, and head scratching decisions for Destiny 2.
This time, it’s the introduction of a Starter pack that costs far too much for the $ 15 it’s going for. As reported by GamesRadar, the pack comes with 125,000 Glimmer, 50 Enhancement Cores, five Enhancement Prisms, and one Ascendant Shard.
Alongside this, it bundles three Exotics:
- Traveler’s Chosen sidearm
- Ruinous Effigy trace rifle
- Sleeper Simulant linear fusion rifle
Finally, rounding out the package is a cosmetic only Sparrow hoverbike and space ship, and an Exotic Ghost shell.
Sounds like a lot of stuff to get, right? But the problem is obvious if you have actually played the game, or at least become familiar with its systems. GamesRadar’s report points out that most of these items are plentiful and easy to obtain, and the weapons aren’t very good to use, even for beginners.
Now, do keep in mind. Destiny 2 has been free to play since 2019. There is a lot of content that players can mess around with without having to pay a dollar to Bungie. That includes vanguard strikes and crucible playlists, seasonal events, public events, lost sectors, patrols, and a few key tidbits of some paid content just to give players a taste of them.
With all that in mind, for Bungie to offer what it calls a starter pack for 1/4th the price of a full retail game, they do have to make that purchase worthwhile. Potential new or returning Destiny 2 players can spend their money on expansions that they haven’t purchased yet.
The way the game is priced, of course, is that different layers of content is gated behind specific expansions. Furthermore, many of those expansions go on frequent discounts, and one such sale is going on right now.
Of course, we understand that Bungie is in need of more revenue going in right now. But this is precisely the reason why they are getting criticized for releasing this content. It only seems to exist to fool new players, and it is so confounding that Bungie would introduce something like this.
For now, we wait for more content from Bungie, as The Final Shape has been delayed all the way to June next year. Destiny 2 will get more content updates in the interim, but it really needs better content than this.