This New Destiny 2 Weapon Completely Broke The Game

Releasing new items in a live service game can be a tougher task than some fans might think. Not only do developers have to consider balancing the weapon's effectiveness against the others available within the game, but also ensure that everything is functional. However, the last thing most gamers would expect is for a single gun to be the reason an entire game is experiencing extreme technical issues. Unfortunately, "Destiny 2" players found this out the hard way when a newly released weapon flat-out broke the game.

In late December — as part of the ongoing "Season of the Seraph" — "Destiny 2" players were given the opportunity to earn the Revision Zero Pulse Rifle, an Exotic weapon that could be gained following the completion of the mission "The Hidden Shape" (via Polygon). The Revision Zero quickly became popular due to its customizability via Weapon Crafting, its unique perk that periodically turns it into a high-powered cannon, and its eye-pleasing high-tech aesthetic. Unfortunately, the weapon itself caused massive issues in the game — some that were so bad that it forced developer Bungie to temporarily shut down the "Destiny 2" API that powered near-essential third-party services like Destiny Item Manager and the "Destiny 2" mobile app.

On December 28, following a series of issues experienced by players being booted from "Destiny 2," Bungie announced that it would indefinitely shut off the game's API while investigating the matter. Amid the chaos, Bungie also announced in-game rewards would have their claim-by date extended in light of the issue. Later, "Destiny 2" community manager Dmg04 (Dylan Gafner) confirmed that the problem stemmed from the newly-introduced Revision Zero Pulse Rifle. Gafner said that the team at Bungie decided to keep the "Destiny 2" API offline until a solution could be found rather than disable the Revision Zero or simply wait it out. 

"It's always tricky when triaging issues like this, especially during the holiday period, but we feel we've landed on the best option for players during this time," Gafner said on Twitter.

According to the initial tweet from Bungie, a fix for the API issue was expected at some point during the following week. On December 30, the API was officially re-enabled, and the game seemingly returned to its normal function and performance. On January 2, Bungie again shared a tweet, this time confirming that disconnection issues tied to the Revision Zero had finally been resolved.

While things seem back to normal for "Destiny 2" players now, players who went through the ordeal will remember the time a newly-added gun broke the game.