You know how in the past when big games were set to release, brick-and-mortar stores used to “leak” games by putting them on sale or shipping them out to people days before the game was set to release? Well, this news is exactly like that but also different.
So, to catch you up here, Destiny 2’s hugely anticipated expansion, The Final Shape, has just suffered a vast and unexpected leak when PlayStation 5 owners were given access to the entire expansion via Sony’s platform.
Thanks to a rather significant oversight by Sony, The Final Shape was preloaded to Sony’s servers before its official launch. While this alone is hardly newsworthy, what went wrong was that when the expansion was preloaded, it was also made publicly available, meaning players could have full access to it before it even had a chance to release.
The leak happened in the early hours of this morning, and the entire expansion was available to play for five hours. However, it seems that Sony was actively aware of the issue, and players weren’t able to get far into it before having their access revoked.
Now, I won’t detail any spoilers that have hit the interwebs because of this leak. Instead, I’ll echo Bungie, the game’s developers, statement:
Be very careful on social media over the next few days to avoid spoilers. Please be considerate of others and report leaks so players can experience the conclusion of the Light and Darkness saga themselves.
Thanks to all our community members who have already helped us by reporting leaks and those actively working to prevent more of the experience from being shared before its intended date.
It’s always extremely difficult when our team’s hard work is leaked early, but we are still excited for everyone to experience the full release on June 4 together.
Of course, not everyone at Bungie has taken the leak well, with IT lead Alan Thomas X’ing:
Fucking… how?
— Alan Thomas (@alansaysstop) May 30, 2024
This leak couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bungie. Two years ago, Sony acquired Bungie for $3.7 billion, and the relationship between the two companies has been less than stellar. Over the last year, Destiny 2 has seen a 45% drop in numbers, and this expansion was long believed to be Bungie’s last-ditch attempt at turning things around.
The Final Shape isn’t set to be just another expansion, either. It’s the culmination of years of work, a celebration of Destiny’s 10th anniversary, and a chance at redemption.
As for Sony? Well, who knows what’s happening with them this week? Last week, Sony was forced to pull an interview they did with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann due to significant errors and inaccuracies. Before that, they spat in the face of democracy by trying to reinstate PlayStation Network integration for Helldivers 2, and now they’ve gone ahead and leaked one of their own titles.
But now I want to know: Do you think this will be the end of Sony pulling a Monica, or are we in for a long, final-destination-esque ride? Let me know in the comments.