Destiny streamer DrLupo caused a stir in August with his testing of the aim assist functionality in the PC version of Destiny 2. Aim assist is disabled when the game is played with a mouse and keyboard, the mouse being inherently more precise than a controller, but running the setup through a XIM4 module allows it to be reenabled. The point wasn't that aim assist would give people on PC an advantage over console players, however—"The XIM still involves translation, which means it will never be as precise as a native mouse," he wrote—but that it could be perceived as such.
"People will look for anything to blame. The XIM is a usual suspect, depending on opinion, so people will point fingers without any personal experience of their own," he explained. "Players are shaming others for using a controller. This means the 'ego' issue is already at play. And we're not even done with the beta."
All of which is to say that it's a very complex issue, and some people are bound to be unhappy no matter what Bungie does—and so for now, at least, Bungie has decided to just leave it alone.
"We heard feedback on that and we're definitely listening and we'll continue to listen going forward, but right now we are planning to ship the controller similar to how it was in the beta," PC project lead David Shaw told The Telegraph. "We think our controls on the controller are pretty good, and people seem to like them, and we think that the PC players should have the ability to play that way if that's their choice."
Bungie is "definitely going to listen to feedback," he added, and it's possible that it could change things up in the future. But the priority right now is to let PC players take on the game in whatever way they prefer, an approach that would seem to affirm DrLupo's suggestion that Destiny 2 "is designed to be as widely accessible as possible, which means potentially sacrificing some of the things that gamers expect when it comes to competitive shooters."
"I think we kinda look at it as that we didn't try to go build an esport, it's nothing we're opposed to in any way, but I think the esports community would decide what the best way to play it is," Shaw said. "From our perspective, however people want to play, I mean a lot of the input we put on PC was about choice, letting people play the way they want to play on the hardware they want to play on."
Destiny 2 arrives on the PC today at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. That means you've got just a few minutes before the shooting starts to check the system requirements, update your drivers, learn about infusions, and find out which guns are worth your time.
