Most players would agree: guns are pretty darn important for Destiny 2. It may come as a surprise to some of the newer players, then, that the pinnacle of utility in the game was an Outlaw/Rampage combo for a while. Chris Proctor worked hard to change that, and succeeded.
It’s hard to put into words just how straightforward and downright boring the Perk meta was for Destiny 2 earlier on, truly. Up until Shadowkeep or so, the only thing you really wanted on your gun was a potent reload perk and a reasonable damage perk, and that was it. When Chris Proctor took over weapons design and features back in 2019, however, this all changed, and so it’s sad to hear that he’s leaving Bungie for good. “In two weeks I’ll be living in another country, and in four weeks I’ll post an update from a new role,” said Proctor over on LinkedIn.
Chris Proctor is leaving Bungie, moving to a different country
“Working at Bungie at all is the job of a lifetime, sandbox design even moreso, let alone owning Destiny weapons for 5 years and ending up as Sandbox Craft Lead at a studio with a legendary grasp of core gameplay,” said Proctor in his announcement. “It’s been a humbling experience, and the time of biggest growth in my career (and I reached 23 years in games, 20 as a designer this year). I can’t recommend Bungie highly enough as a place to do amazing work with some of the most skilled game devs in the industry.”
Often cited as one of the most personable and beloved Bungie employees among the Destiny 2 community members, Proctor made a name for himself by making guns genuinely interesting and engaging to use. And while it’s true enough that you do still want them to reload faster and dish out more damage, it’d be silly to pretend Bungie hadn’t made strides over the past couple of years. Predictably, the community is saddened by the fact that Proctor is moving on.
Proctor hasn’t provided any information on what his next project might be, but he did say that he’s about to embark on a “huge, international [move],” and that “it’s an exciting time” for him.
Under Proctor’s leadership, Bungie began introducing extremely potent and satisfying crowd control Perks such as Voltshot. To say nothing of Reconstruction, Bait & Switch, or Explosive Light, just to list a few. Though I’m certain Bungie would’ve improved things to some extent even without Proctor, the man knew his stuff, and it’ll be interesting to see how Destiny 2‘s meta changes now that he’s gone.
