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Bungie's marketing in terms of future Destiny 2 content has been a bit peculiar, considering the outcome of their seasonal content. The company went completely silent until the launch date, which subsequently revealed the name, theme and other gear for the season. Fast forward three months, and they're enacting the same process for the upcoming one.
While this tactic does hype up the community by remaining suspenseful, it can also easily kill expectations if the final product is underwhelming. Although Bungie's secrecy on the latest season is justified, considering the return of Leviathan and Opulence weapons, there isn't anything new regarding content and replayability.
After being kept in the dark for three long months, players were hoping for more from Season of the Haunted. But the overhyped buildup and silence might have killed the motivation of many after the release, seeing how the new content was just a reflection of the old.
Disclaimer: This article is subjective and relies solely on the writer's personal opinion.
Overhyped build-up for Destiny 2 Season of the Haunted and consequences of Bungie's silent marketing
Season of the Haunted does have its moments, as it refreshes a lot of memories for players from years one and two. The infamous Leviathan and Opulence weapons are among the few good aspects Bungie introduced during its early days. With Castellum being the first ever Raid encounter in Destiny 2, the majority of the community has a lot of memories tied to the place.
While getting the entirety of the Leviathan as a new open-world area was a good move, the seasonal grind became repetitive and boring after a few weeks. The activity, Nightmare Containment, is a sort of public event, which is tied to the seasonal story.
It is similar to Splicer's override, or Season 15's Astral Alignment, where Guardians have to push their way through different enemies only to face a final boss. However, unlike the aforementioned activities, Nightmare Containment takes place in one location, the Castellum, with only three bosses rotating each week.
Meanwhile, Override had Europa, Moon, Tangled Shore, and finally, the Last City as its rotating locations. Season 15's Astral Alignment even took place on different maps, followed by a separate epilog and cutscene. Meanwhile, Season of the Haunted, which Bungie kept a secret until the last few hours, only has one location for the seasonal activity.
Some aspects worth appreciating are the Duality Dungeon and the Solar 3.0. However, those two can't be counted as seasonal content, as the Dungeon is supposed to be a scheduled release of endgame content, and Solar rework was a permanent sandbox update.
With two weeks remaining for Season 18, Bungie is executing the same process as they did before Destiny 2 Season 17. They are silent regarding details on the subclass rework, the theme of the season, and even the Artifact Champion mods. This ultimately leads to players expecting something big, only to get disappointed in the end.
