Bungie's The Taken King expansion for Destiny includes much new content, but fans were annoyed when some of the exclusive bonuses included in the $80 Collector's Edition could be purchased no other way. It seemed like hardcore fans, the ones who had supported the game from the beginning, were being left out in the cold.
Bungie has addressed the situation today, and it looks like the fans have been listened to.
What went wrong
A tone-deaf interview on the pricing and content of The Taken King with Eurogamer seemed to set the Destiny community on fire. The issue is that while the expansion costs $40, you would have to pay $80 for the Collector's Edition of the original game to get three new emotes that wouldn't be sold any other way. So to get that content, you'd have to rebuy the game and two expansions.
Here is the exchange between the interviewer and Luke Smith, The Taken King's creative director.
Luke Smith: Is it also the final question on the emotes?
Eurogamer: I'm not going to mention them again. I can't get them.
Luke Smith: But you can if you buy the Collector's Edition.
Eurogamer: I'm not going to buy the game and the two DLCs all over again.
Luke Smith: Okay, but first I want to poke at you on this a little bit.
Eurogamer: Poke at me?
Luke Smith: You're feeling anxious because you want this exclusive content but you don't know yet how much you want it. The notion of spending this money is making you anxious, I can see it —
Eurogamer: I do want them. I would buy them —
Luke Smith: If I fired up a video right now and showed you the emotes you would throw money at the screen.
The whole interview is interesting in that it presented the worst possible way for Bungie to deal with the fan feedback, and the community has been in an uproar since it was published. Bungie released a statement on the situation today.
"Reading my interview with Eurogamer and imagining it came from some random developer of a game I love — that random developer looks like an Asshat," Smith wrote. "But that Asshat was me — and those words rightfully anger you."
"I'm sorry."
Bungie has now pledged to sell that content, which consists of three Armor Shaders, three exotic class items with XP bonuses and three class-specific emotes, in a digital package for $20 starting on Sept. 15 of this year.
The blog post goes on to discuss as-yet unannounced bonuses for "VIP" characters who have been playing since launch or purchased the existing expansions, as well as a hint about a bonus for people who rebought the game for the content listed above. "If you purchased the existing Digital Collector's Edition, and you already owned Destiny and both expansion packs, we’ll have some additional information for you soon," Bungie stated.
We'll see if the fans are appeased by this decision.
