Destiny will let players change how they look after a decade
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Destiny, and in all of that time one change that players have been requesting has only just been introduced.
As of this week, players are finally able to change how their character looks, a feature that was not available in either the original Destiny or Destiny 2 until now.
Players are finally able to change how their character looks in Destiny 2
After years of waiting, Bungie has finally added the ability to change how your character looks in Destiny.
In yesterday’s This Week in Destiny blog post, it said: “Let's see if this sounds familiar: You created a very edgy Awoken when you were a teenager. Maybe you chose some regrettable markings on your Human’s face, or you didn’t coordinate the colours of your Exo’s mouth and eyes. Or perhaps your character's body type no longer represents who you are.
“No matter the reason, you'll be able to change your Guardian’s look when character customization goes live in an update before the release of The Final Shape.
“You will be able to modify the appearance of your Guardians anytime, without cost or limit to the number of changes.
“Just take into consideration that while you can change the body type, face, hair/head, and markings, it won’t be possible to change from one origin to another (i.e., Human, Exo, or Awoken).
“We hope being able to customise your characters freely will help you refine—or redefine—your beloved Guardians for years to come.”
The blogpost also stated that a further update in March will reset the Synthweave bounty cap, giving more opportunities to customise appearances.
It is clearly not only players who wanted this change, as former Destiny 2 Community Manager & Co-Lead of Accessibility at Bungie, Liana Ruppert, said: “The character customization feature is something we pushed HARD for.
“I did several data breakdowns for leadership and teams from all disciplines fought the good fight on their end to make this a reality.
“VERY proud of the teams and I don't even mind that it's a PR move!”
Players wishing to change how their character looks will notice a new option when hovering over the character on the selection screen in Destiny 2.
Bungie is desperately trying to win back Destiny players
If you are wondering why Bungie waited 10 years to finally introduce a feature that players have been asking for from the very beginning, it may have something to do with their desire to save face in the wake of dwindling player numbers and layoffs.
In November 2023, Bungie announced that it would be delaying its Final Shape expansion by four months following layoffs that affected approximately 100 people at the company.
Similarly, reports of declining player numbers have been appearing.
Reddit user Merzats has been tracking Steam figures for Destiny 2 seasons and has noted that the most recent seasons have a considerably lower player count than previously seen.
While this is not indicative of every player on every platform, it does give an idea of general trends and thoughts toward the game.
It is ultimately good that Bungie has finally implemented the ability to change appearances, however it is still very bare bones.
It would be nice to see them update this further in the future, potentially even enough to allow players to change their origins as well as their looks.
