Fate 2 received a new patch this week. While the community is always eager for improvements, the latest arrival of the 9.5.5.5 update has left many feeling overwhelmed during what has been a particularly quiet period for the franchise. The Fate 2 the update's incredibly short list of changes caused a wave of frustration and black humor among the remaining player base.
For years, the game has relied on a steady rhythm of expansions and updates to keep its dedicated players engaged. However, the title is currently facing a number of challenges, including record low player numbers, recently peaking at just 7,000 concurrent users on Steam. This represents a staggering 98% loss of players since launch Edge of Destiny expansion less than two years ago. Another major content drop previously titled Shadow and order was delayed from March to June, and the game is currently facing a significant drought while Bungie focuses resources on launching its new extraction shooter, Marathon.
Destiny 2's player count is significantly lower
Destiny 2's player count has dropped significantly since the launch of The Edge of Fate, and is now at a fraction of its July peak.
Threadbare update 9.5.5.5 details
Latest update for Fate 2 is perhaps most notable for what it does not include. The patch notes for 9.5.5.5 contained only one general fix: an issue where some weapons did not receive benefits from their weapon foundry sponsorships while active. This one-sentence patch followed a nearly three-hour server outage on March 10, leading fans on Reddit to lament that the development team felt like it had been reduced to a skeleton crew. The maintenance period started at 6:00 AM PDT and ended around noon, affecting all platforms and even affecting the first Fate.
Despite the lack of major gameplay changes, Bungie outlined several “community activations” and update planning in its March 12 “This Week in Destiny” (TWID) blog post. According to Bungie, the following activities and updates are live or in the works for the week of March 12:
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Community Challenge: Postcards from the Frontier: Bungie is asking players to share images of environments from the Renegades expansion on social media using the hashtag #RenegadesPostcard.
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New Player's Guide: Buildcrafting: A new guide chapter has been released that focuses on the concepts behind building powerful characters rather than a list of specific meta-settings.
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Suros Week (March 10-17): All Suros foundry weapons such as the Motif-41 and Monody-44 are currently overcharged and deal additional damage in portal activities.
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Trials of Osiris (March 13-17): Competitive mode returns to the Javelin-4 map, with Corundum Hammer as the main reward.
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Heavy Ammo Surge (March 17-24): Starting next week, a modifier in the Power portal will allow weapons to quickly reload ammo.
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Guardian Games Tease: Bungie has confirmed that more information regarding the annual Guardian Games event will be shared next week, with the event itself starting on March 24th.
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Track Known Issues: The team is currently investigating bugs related to generators in the “Fearsome Retainer” mission and a visual glitch where the Wolfsbane weapon displays Void effects instead of Solar.
Reactions to these updates have been largely negative on social media. Reddit users described the new screenshot as “the most pathetic event” ever seen in a live service game, with some suggesting it was merely an attempt to get players to do “free marketing” for the studio. Many fans seem to believe that Bungie has indeed moved Fate to the back burner to secure Marathon thrive, especially since then Marathon runs in the same window as Shadow and order update was originally intended.
Adding to the negative sentiment expressed by fans is the irony of Bungie releasing a new player guide at a time when concurrent player numbers are at an all-time low. According to Forbes' Paul Tassi, the situation became so dire that Sony was forced to post a $204.2 million impairment charge due to the game's underperformance. raises serious questions about whether the franchise can survive.
Bungie promised that the June update, which will be renamed, will finally introduce long-awaited features like Pantheon 2.0 and level 5 stats for Exotic Armors. However, for Fate 2 players still logging in daily, a screenshot contest, and a single bug fix do little to bridge the gap.
- Released
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August 28, 2017
- ESRB
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T for TEEN for blood, language and violence
