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The creative lead for Destiny ‘s story announces that he’s leaving Bungie after a thirteen year career and only six months at the position he was appointed in November.
CJ Cowan, the mind most recently behind the continuously evolving story of Destiny , announced earlier this week that he would be leaving Bungie after a thirteen year career. Cowan chose not to divulge what, if any, plans he might have going forward, but it’s a fairly shocking decision given that he had only been made story creative lead for Destiny in November 2015. Whether or not his departure has anything to do with his recent involvement with Destiny will remain a mystery, but losing a thirteen-year veteran of the studio will make finding a replacement no easy task for Bungie.
According to Cowan’s LinkedIn resume, the former creative lead started at Bungie in 2003 and worked on Halo 2 as a cinematic designer. He later became director of cinematics for Halo 3 , Halo 3: ODST , and Halo: Reach , later becoming the lead story designer for Destiny right before his eventual departure. Any studio looking for someone with extensive experience in crafting space dramas like Destiny or Halo won’t be likely to find anyone more qualified than Cowan in the near future.
Of course, Bungie might already have a plan for Destiny ‘s story now that Cowan is gone. It wasn’t that long ago that Chris Schlerf, the lead writer for Mass Effect: Andromeda , left BioWare to join Bungie‘s staff. Given the pedigree Schlerf brings to Bungie, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him slotted into Cowan’s former position and handed even more creative control over the series than anyone before him.
Still, any sort of departure from the Destiny team is news these days, as Bungie has had to put out a lot of external fires during the game’s second year and can ill-afford to begin focusing on interior crises as well. Despite fans begging Bungie for news on the game’s Year 2 content, the developer has stubbornly refused to divulge any information about major content updates, instead looking to appease fans with the usual monthly updates and small PvE or PvP fixes.
That approach, however, has lead to a major crisis in faith for many of Destiny ‘s most dedicated players. When popular community figures like TripleWRECK begin discussing the game’s lack of content, it should make the good folks at Bungie spring into action. While Cowan’s departure is significant, Destiny has a lot more to worry about than improving its narrative in the months to come.
What do you think about Destiny ‘s creative lead leaving after just six months on the job? Do you think it has anything to do with the game’s current state, or is it simply a case of needing a change of scenery? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Twitter(via Gamespot)