With every AAA game developer seemingly rushing to implement some form of microtransaction or other into their games during the tail end of 2017, it became almost inevitable that there would be a backlash to the new direction that the gaming industry seemed to be heading in. One such game that has suffered as a result of this feedback is Destiny 2, though a whole host of other reasons have been contributing to the game's declining playerbase. In any case, thanks to the existence of an in-game store dubbed Eververse, players could buy loot boxes containing a randomized assortment of cosmetic items with real money, which obviously riled up the game's audience as more and more of the game's content got locked behind the Eververse paywall.
To Bungie's credit, it appears as though the once revered company has finally caught wind of just how hated Eververse is following weeks, if not months, of incessant complaining on Destiny 2's official forums and elsewhere. In their most recent Development Update, Game Director Christopher Barrett stated that "We recognize that the scales are tipped too far towards Tess at the moment, and Eververse was never intended to be a substitute for end game content and rewards."
As such, Bungie plans to implement the following changes to Destiny 2's Eververse over the following months (it should be noted that there is no specific date as to when these changes will be fully implemented across the board):
- Ghosts, Sparrows, and ships will appear in activity rewards and achievement reward pools
- A gameplay path to earn Bright and Event Engrams (loot boxes) and all associated rewards will be implemented
- Players will be given more direct purchase options, and Bright Engrams will be adjusted to allow players to get specific, desirable loot more often
On February 13, with the start of Destiny 2's Crimson Days seasonal event, you should start to see the effects of some of these changes. For example, completing the Raid, Nightfall, and Crimson Days milestones during the event will reward you with an exclusive emote, weapon skin, and Sparrow. Furthermore, you will receive a Crimson Engram (essentially just a loot box with a high chance of distributing the seasonal event items) in addition to the normal Illuminated Engram upon leveling up, and Crimson Engrams will have be injected into the loot pool of Crimson Days matches.
Speaking of leveling up, XP earn rates are also allegedly being investigated by Bungie, as the rate at which you can earn XP- and thus, loot boxes- is deemed to be "too slow in general and lopsided towards grinding specific activities (which is not a fun grind) and we want to fix that without making those activities low value to players who aren’t grinding them." This isn't the first time that XP has been examined by Bungie since release, with it being a touchy topic since launch.
Only time will tell how Destiny 2's Eveverse will actually change, but at least Bungie seems to be aware of at least one of the problems facing the game. It should be noted however that all of the aforementioned changes will likely do little to reduce the prominence of Eververse as there is no mention of any gameplay specific/exclusive rewards. Indeed, it seems more like an attempt to shift what is essentially old stock to the front of the store (in a manner of speaking) while newer, shinier items remain locked behind a paywall, aside from the occasional free sample here and there.