Bungie is looking to tie Destiny 2 player progression into its loot boxes, with the developer advertising a job role that will see the successful applicant “create sustainable player progression and chase” through its Bright Engram system.
Thus far Destiny 2‘s Bright Engrams have only contained cosmetic items, though a new job listing suggests that this is set to change in the future. The Senior Progression Manager will be in charge of working “with a diverse array of disciplines to build and maintain Destiny’s monetization business,” with them creating new items to go on sale in the game’s Eververse. However, this role will seemingly see these items stretch beyond cosmetics such as shaders and ornaments, and perhaps into far more controversial territory.
Bungie wants this Senior Progression Manager to “use data and design sensibilities to define strategies for maintaining ideal engagement patterns and maximizing player satisfaction,” along with them being responsible for managing the “growth of Progression designers on the Eververse team.”
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All of this suggests that Bungie is developing a team to work on introducing a player progression system to its Eververse, with the intention seemingly being to implement it in Destiny 2 before carrying it over into future entries in the series. Bungie adds that they want the successful applicant to “craft a long-term vision for the Eververse and its presence in the Destiny IP.”
Considering the recent furore surrounding EA’s implementation of loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront 2, which saw player progression tied to the Star Cards that were solely earned by way of its randomized drops, Bungie is stepping into divisive territory here. The studio hasn’t specified exactly how it wants Bright Engrams to be linked to player progression, but for those who are growing increasingly frustrated with the implementation of loot boxes and microtransactions in games, this isn’t good news.
We have reached out to Bungie and will update this story if we hear back.
