Bungie is set to take us on a tour of the new social space in Destiny with the upcoming House of Wolves expansion. The Queen’s Bay or The Reef as it’s often been referred to will provide a brand new hub for players to explore when the new expansion drops. As the initial teaser indicated, it contains its own NPCs, Bounty Board, Cryptarch and other intriguing little quirks to set it apart from the Tower of the Last City on Earth.
However, many sharp-eyed fans who’ve kept track of Destiny its initial reveal trailer in early 2013 have pointed something out: The Reef shown in yesterday’s recent teaser is pretty much the same as that briefly spotted some two years ago. One NeoGAF user even posted an image from the original (seen above) and compared it to today’s product.
It’s natural to assume that Bungie broke down pieces of Destiny before its launch to sell as DLC for additional revenue. However, as one user pointed out, “More likely that the project turned out to be too overambitious and that they simply needed to cut corners in order to be able to release a finished product.”
Diablo 3 was cited as a similar case. While a compelling game today thanks to the Reaper of Souls expansion, the hack and slash RPG boasted maybe half of its features from launch time itself. It’s just that Blizzard chose to make most of its updates free while Bungie has priced DLC for Destiny.
Regardless, what are your thoughts on Destiny’s House of Wolves being revealed from the beginning and essentially appearing unchanged two years later? Let us know in the comments.
Update: Bungie revealed on its live-stream for House of Wolves that the early trailer’s version of the Reef was a prototype. This was subsequently expanded upon later into development for the expansion. Stay tuned for more details on the House of Wolves in the coming hour.