An extended Destiny 2 Season 23 could spell trouble for Bungie

Destiny 2 Season 23 is set to go live in a little less than a month. However, with the recent layoffs, the season will go live as scheduled, but it will be extended up until the new expansion goes live. Finances aside, this delay could put Bungie in a very tight spot because not only is their final expansion delayed, but their new IP Marathon is also being delayed.

It's not the first time that Bungie has extended a season. So why is the Destiny 2 Season 23 extension different, and why would it have a negative impact on the future of the game?

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Destiny 2 Season 23 might see a dip in the player count

Destiny 2 Season 23 being extended isn't something new. There have been extensions in the past as well. The final season of Beyond Light was also extended because The Witch Queen expansion was delayed. However, this delay was planned months ahead, and there was additional filler content in the form of the 30th Anniversary Pack.

This was enough to keep players engaged in the season and made up for the extended season. However, with Destiny 2 Season 23, Bungie is yet to formally announce the extension and the subsequent delay of The Final Shape expansion. This indicates that the layoffs were sudden, and there isn't any backup plan for now.

Ever since the Lightfall expansion, there hasn't been a lot of positive news for the studio. From a faulty content delivery pattern to DDoSed servers, the game has seen a lot of trouble over the past few months. Just as the game was recovering with the Season of the Witch, the layoffs happened.

In the absence of a proper plan, Season 23 will require a lot of filler content. This could be in the form of in-game events or maybe an extension of the seasonal storyline itself, but how the developer will progress with it is unclear.

Bungie has struggled with content in recent times, so it will be interesting to see how they go about it.

Towards the end of every season, there's a small decline in the number of players because there's nothing much left to do in the game. These periods are really small, and the player count recovers the moment the new season goes live. For now, it's hard to say if the three-month extension will hurt the player count badly before The Final Shape goes live.

As of now, Bungie is yet to talk about these layoffs, so it will be interesting to see how they address the situation and how they've planned on dealing with the problem at hand.