Wall Street analyst firm Cowen has made some predictions for Destiny 2 that cast a dark future for the franchise. While Bungie has never been known for its communication skills, the developer has managed to keep Destiny 2 relevant for many longtime and new players. However, when coupled with the other issues arising from both Bungie and its product, gamers have begun moving away from the title.

This can be seen, especially, in the Twitch community. The first Destiny received 14,000 to 17,00 views on a typical Friday afternoon, but Destiny 2 is averaging 4,000 to 7,000 views.  Alluding to the game's waning audience, Cowen Senior Analyst Doug Creutz stated, “While Call of Duty: WWII clearly had a great holiday, which like sets up strong franchise live services revenue in 2018, Destiny 2 is struggling right now with player engagement appearing to be on the wane.”

Further supporting his predictions, Creutz revealed four strong reasons for the current state of Destiny 2:

1.) “Design decisions were made that have made D2 a less engaging, and less distinctive, game than D1.”

2.) “Microtransaction implementation, while not nearly as problematic as in Star Wars Battlefront 2, has still been a source of player unhappiness.”

3.) “Bungie’s apparent urgency in responding to player feedback has been disappointing.”

4.) “Until recently, Bungie did a poor job communicating its road map going forward, particularly compared to the more open stance of many other live service games.”

Destiny 2 new exotics teased

For these reasons, Creutz does not see Activision as being able to recover the reputation of Destiny 2, especially considering analysts predict Activision will lose out on revenue in 2018. For many gamers, it may be a little too late – with fervent competition from games such as Division and Warframe, players seem to be seeking alternatives to the Destiny franchise.

Although Destiny 2 appears to be in a state of dismay right now, it’s not all bad news. A destiny 2 director has recently teased new exotics that represent a return to its roots, which may be encouraging for many players. Creutz even concludes his analysis by stating, “We do think Bungie still has some opportunity to fix the game’s problems over the next year and recapture engagement, but we’re not sure they have the ability to pull it off at this point.” What do you think, Guardians?

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: CNBC