Destiny 2 developer Bungie is battling to fix a massive crafting glitch that let players make god-tier weapons — and now it’s facing down distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Bungie took the unusual step of confirming the DDoS attacks in a tweet in part to explain to the Destiny community that a recent spike in error codes and disconnects some thought were the result of the studio’s efforts to fix the crafting glitch problem.
“Over the past couple of days, we've seen a spike in error codes and disconnects,” Bungie said. “The team has confirmed that these error codes are not related to the planned fixes rolling out for the recent crafting issue and are instead a result of DDoS attacks. While we typically don't confirm these types of attacks and do not plan to in the future for general game security reasons, we believe it's the right thing to do for our players to communicate the added pressure to our systems given recent circumstances.
“We want to thank our players for their patience as our teams work swiftly to ensure the integrity of the game and continue to implement our roadmap for future stability improvements.”
Destiny 2’s weapon crafting glitch lets players craft two craftable weapons together to form guns so powerful they basically break the game. Players have used the glitch to add exotic perks to legendary weapons, or even to merge two legendary weapons together.
The glitch sparked a vociferous debate within the community, with some enjoying the fun that comes from such in-game power, others pointing out its impact on the game’s competitive elements. Meanwhile, Destiny 2 players got on with destroying previously rock hard endgame activities solo with their overpowered concoctions and melting enemies in the PvP Crucible mode.
Bungie responded to say its goal was to fix the “illegal” crafted weapons, but do it in a way “that doesn't hurt the investment that players have earned with their normal, ‘legally’ crafted weapons”. A series of updates followed, including temporarily disabling a selection of Exotic and Legendary frames and perks on crafted weapons.
Some players had thought these updates were causing the error spike seen in-game, but Bungie now says it’s the result of DDoS attacks. Currency speculation within the community points to the timing of the DDoS attacks, which perhaps suggests they originate from a disgruntled player or group of players.
Bungie will no doubt hope to get a handle on all this sooner rather than later. Destiny’s long-running Light and Dark Saga is set to conclude next year with Destiny 2 DLC The Final Shape, which sees beloved Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 return to the fold. It launches February 27, 2024 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
