Destiny, the new game being created by original Halo developers Bungie, is one of the most anticipated games that will come to current and next-gen consoles. While much of the focus of the videos and demos that Bungie has released concerns the co-op elements of the game, there will also be competitive multiplayer. In an interview with Eurogamer Bungie community chief and senior writer Eric Osborne addressed how this portion of the game will play out.
Osborne clarified that unlike the immersive co-op mode, players will not suddenly find themselves in matches against other human players, but rather competitive multiplayer will take place in different areas of a world:
"It's not emergent in the sense where if you're running through the world on your way to a destination or another activity, somebody can just force you into a PvP match...You can't get ganked. You're always electing to jump into that activity. Some of the activities in the game will be rooted in the world itself, like, literally inside of the world itself, where you're going into a place. Others will be woven into the fabric of the story but will have a different entry point into that space. We want to make sure we're building scenarios where players can choose the activity they feel like they want to do right now, but also that it feels like it's part of the overall universe and it has consequence and meaning in the world."
The Bungie employee also declared that the company is in love with the competitive multiplayer of the game, which apparently is already mostly completed and is focused on skill rather than collecting the best gear:
"Competitive multiplayer is a huge focus for the team. We love it. We play it at launch weekly. We fight about it. We constantly go back and forth. The perspectives vary wildly inside the studio. But it's already got to the point where it's really fun and it's really about tweaking and iterating and playing it every day and finding that spot we think is unique but also feels familiar for those who are into competitive multiplayer that's skill-based, 'I'm better than you not necessarily because of the gear I have but because I'm better than you.'"
This is interesting news, and perhaps Bungie will soon release video of the competitive multiplayer to go with all their teaser trailers and videos of the co-op action that has dominated the early press for Destiny.