Warframe community director and live ops lead Megan Everett has described the end of support for Destiny 2 as a "heartbreaking" and "earth-shattering" development, stating that "no one is celebrating" the news.
For over a decade, the two sci-fi shooters have been frequently compared, fostering a friendly competition between developers Digital Extremes and Bungie. However, when Bungie announced it was winding down future updates for Destiny 2 in May, the communities largely shifted focus. Everett shared her perspective on the situation in a conversation with Eurogamer, admitting she never anticipated seeing Destiny 2's support come to a close.
"Truthfully, it's heartbreaking. It's earth-shattering," Everett said. "I never thought I'd ever see the day where I'd read an article from Bungie about Destiny 2 essentially shutting down."
She emphasized that the sentiment is not one of triumph over a competitor. "I'm speaking personally, but I know people would echo it as well. No one is celebrating the fact that this has happened to Destiny, and its players and that story," Everett stated. "I know that people have obviously compared us in terms of being 'direct competitors' and stuff like that. But I think a game is healthy when you have competitors, and [Destiny's developers] have done such an amazing job at trying to grow that story regardless of whatever situation they were in."
The decision to cease support for Destiny 2 reportedly came as a surprise, even within Bungie itself. Forbes reported that many studio employees were unaware of the plans until the public announcement, indicating that development on new content may have continued even after the decision was finalized. The game's final update, Monument of Triumph, was released on June 9.
Everett noted that while Destiny 2 players have recently shown significant support, this surge in positivity followed a period of considerable negativity directed at the game. "I think what's unfortunate and sad is they announced this was happening, and suddenly people are showing all this support for them," she added. "They've been getting a lot of negativity for all this time, and it's like, where was all this love? People need to put the hate away and show the love, because they could have really used that. I know it was there, but it wasn't as vocal as maybe some of the negativity."
Other members of Digital Extremes have also shared their reflections. Warframe creative director Rebecca Ford called Destiny a "force of nature" and acknowledged that "there is no Warframe without the legacy of Bungie games."
Everett explained that the Warframe community team frequently encounters comparisons between the two games. While players who have invested heavily in both titles often highlight their distinct strengths, the existence of a prominent competitor like Destiny was, in her view, beneficial for Warframe's growth. "I think having games that are similar enough that the communities can come together and talk about both games, and maybe educate people on those games so people go to both, that's not a bad thing," she said. "I've said for forever, I never expect anyone to only play Warframe. You would burn out so fast if you did. So having other games that scratch a similar itch is healthy for our genre. Having Destiny was healthy for us."