In his Destiny 2 Director’s Cut 2020 blog post, Bungie Game Director Luke Smith announced Destiny 2’s loot box-like Bright Engrams will be removed as a purchase option from the premium-currency Eververse Store. It’s a headline that screams “pro-consumer,” but loot boxes weren’t the problem with Destiny 2’s microtransaction system.
In fact, at points in Destiny 2’s earlier days, loot boxes were actually a path toward easy, free cosmetic loot. Destiny 2’s level-up system once gave out Bright Engrams like crazy, granting players random current-season Eververse armor and other cosmetic items. Bungie continued giving out free Bright Engrams after the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep expansion (and it will keep doing so after Engrams removed from the store), but nearly not as plentifully as before, and other Eververse Store changes made the free Engrams far less useful. At the launch of Shadowkeep, Bungie changed Eververse armor sets from actual, equippable armor into “ornament” skins players can slot over any armor piece they like. This gave players more freedom to use the armor they spend money on, but armor simultaneously became impossible to obtain for free. Why? Because loot boxes were scaled back.
After Shadowkeep, Bright Engrams were changed to no longer include current-season cosmetics or any armor skins whatsoever. Players could still purchase Bright Engrams from the store and earn them from the season pass to obtain old cosmetics, but the only path to current-season goodies - many of which disappear at season’s end - was to purchase cosmetics directly from the store. On its own, this isn’t a problem: It’s better for players to know exactly what they’re buying, after all. But the fact that non-Eververse armor sets can’t be used as cosmetic overlays on well-rolled armor meant players were encouraged to purchase premium-currency sets if they didn’t want a hodgepodge of gear. Those who purchased the armor sets then traveled throughout the game world, sporting de facto Eververse advertisements and encouraging others to follow their lead. Combine this with the non-premium Bright Dust currency’s decreased availability and the increased randomness in finding good armor, and Shadowkeep’s Eververse ecosystem became more predatory than ever.
Since Shadowkeep’s launch, Bungie has taken steps to address this. The developer now notifies players which Eververse items will be sold for Bright Dust via Twitter; events like The Dawning provide increased Bright Dust sources; and, most importantly, players can soon change armor’s Elemental Affinity, reducing the luck needed to obtain favorable armor sets. But until more cosmetic items - armor ornaments, Ghost shells, Sparrows, etc. - are available from in-game activities rather than in the expensive store, Destiny 2’s systems still feed back into encouraging players to purchase microtransactions.
This means Bungie’s removal of loot boxes isn’t necessarily something to be celebrated. The developer already basically did that when it removed armor and other cosmetics from Engrams, making them a much less appealing purchase. It’s a good thing Bungie took away the option for players to purchase random-drop microtransactions, but loot boxes have long been falling out of style, and Destiny 2’s monetization has gradually moved away from them, anyway. Even with the looming specter of in-game gambling gone, Destiny 2’s microtransaction problems are far from over.
Next: Destiny 2: Bungie Reverses Position On Artifacts In Trials of Osiris
Destiny 2’s Season of the Worthy begins on March 10, 2020.
