Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn steps down for a "new adventure" outside of Bungie

Destiny 2 is slowly approaching the end of an era, as The Final Shape will mark the conclusion to a five-year-long story between Light and Darkness. Before anyone embarks on the journey, however, developer Bungie is set to lose one of its beloved directors, Joe Blackburn, who has been at the helm of the title since 2020.

The confirmation came from Blackburn himself, who took to X a few hours ago and talked about his experience working at Bungie. Taking his position will be another company veteran, Tyson Green.

On January 30, 2024, Blackburn posted a thread on X that included several posts about The Final Shape's End-to-End playtest and the act of "passing the torch" to the new director.

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Joe Blackburn to leave Bungie before Destiny 2 The Final Shape

Following the Destiny 2 weekly reset on January 30, 2024, Joe Blackburn posted a series of tweets through his account @joegoroth. He began by talking about the End-to-End playtest for The Final Shape and how it has been an important ritual for the dev team ever since Forsaken in Year 2. The playtesting allows the team to push towards bug fixes and the polishing of future unreleased content.

However, amid the playtesting, Joe Blackburn will step down from the game director position and leave Bungie by "passing the torch." Here's what he had to say about his exit:

"This ritual will be especially meaningful to me personally, as it will also serve as a moment to pass the torch of Destiny 2 Game Director to the next era of leadership as I head on a new adventure outside the walls of Bungie.

"I've still got some time before I pass the torch, but as I look forward to taking a big break from social media, I know I'll see yall around the Tower. It is going to be great to play Destiny alongside all of you."

Blackburn also confirmed that Tyson Green, another veteran from the Halo and Destiny franchise, will be taking over the position next month.

Here is Tyson Green's history at Bungie, including his positions in various projects:

• Designer for Destiny 2 The Witch Queen on Xbox One and Windows, Shadowkeep for PlayStation 4, Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, Halo Combat Evolved for Windows and Xbox.
• Game Design Lead for Destiny 2 base game in PlayStation 4.
• Mission Designer for Halo Masterchief Collection.
• Systems Designer for Halo Reach.
• Multiplayer Design Lead for Halo 3.
• Level Scripting and Design for Myth II.
• Exotic Design Lead for Destiny 1.

The Final Shape expansion is scheduled for release on June 4, 2024.