Bungie Jumps

Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest issue of the Destructoid Changelog. This week, Bungie comes back swinging, Nintendo shows off more Mario Kart, and one of this year’s best RPGs gets a punishing update.

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Bungie Jumps

Bungie’s Destiny franchise hit a huge milestone in 2024: its tenth anniversary was accompanied by one of the most critically-acclaimed expansions Destiny 2 has received since the sequel launched with The Final Shape.

Still, it wasn’t enough to keep everyone afloat. Bungie underwent huge layoffs with more than 200 staff let go or reassigned within Sony, whose bigwigs reportedly were less than impressed with the studio’s management, which shut down multiple incubation projects.

Fast-forward to April 2025, though, and things are looking a little more promising. Marathon, originally revealed in 2023, finally got a gameplay demo and a firm release date of Sept. 23, 2025.

A slick entry in the extraction shooter genre, it features hero shooter-like classes, with players working to get in, get loot, and get out.

In an increasingly crowded market, it’ll be interesting to see if Marathon can stand out (we all remember Concord) but its impressive art direction means it looks the part for sure.

Aside from Marathon, Bungie has also promised an update on the next year of Destiny on May 7.

Intended to finally reveal more information about what follows The Final Shape after a series of Episodes (which have been getting stronger each time), there’s every chance it could set the live-service title back on a much more positive track.

Bungie has certainly been through the wringer in recent years, but here’s hoping the studio gets back to its best.

After all, The Final Shape was critically lauded but wasn’t enough to hit internal targets, and having a game run since 2017 means it’s never easy for new players to jump on board.

Hopefully, having Marathon as an on-ramp for the studio’s games, and more regular Destiny content for longtime fans, will ensure Bungie can hit the required metrics—or things could get dire.

Kartin’ All Over The World

You wait and wait for a Nintendo Direct, and then two arrive in the same month. While the company has shown off plenty of the Switch 2 in recent weeks, it held another Nintendo Direct event for Mario Kart World.

The game, intended as the big “system seller” for the upcoming console, had to convince fans it was worth the hefty investment, and Nintendo pulled out all the stops.

From once again highlighting the meme-friendly Cow racer to a whole host of track reveals, item updates, and even wallriding, it certainly feels as though Mario Kart World will be the biggest game in the long-running series.

Will it sell more than the 67 million copies Mario Kart 8 Deluxe shipped on the original Switch? Time will tell, but based on my hands-on experience with the Switch 2’s biggest launch title, it’s undoubtedly impressive.

We’ve not seen the open-world activities, but the 24-player races are chaotic but smooth at 120 FPS, and we’re hopeful there are plenty of surprises to come. 

Hardcore Henry

Could it be that February was only just a couple of months ago? Well, Warhorse has already dropped a hefty update to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 that makes it worth a revisit.

One of the most impressively sprawling games of the year so far, the new hardcore mode for the RPG adds a series of negative perks to make Henry of Skalitz’s day even worse.

From lowered carrying capacity to a higher likelihood of attacks while roaming the world, the update is perfect for those who want an even more difficult time.

In addition, you can’t see your position on the map and need to ask for directions, meaning the game’s huge vistas are likely to be even more immersive than they were before.

That’s all for today, but we’ll be back next week. Thanks for subscribing!

Destructoid team