Bungie Apologizes for Accidentally Changing Player Names, Says Fix ‘Will Take Some Time’

Bungie knows there are a lot of Destiny 2 players who had their in-game names changed against their will, but it’s not sure when a fix will arrive for everyone.

The Destiny developer acknowledged concerns in a series of posts on X/Twitter. Although it has implemented a server-wide fix to ensure no one else will be affected, it’s unclear when players will be able to change their names back. For now, Bungie simply says that the hiccup impacted a “high number” of accounts.

“We are continuing to investigate options to address player accounts that were impacted,” Bungie said. “This will take some time as our path forward will be dependent on fixing the underlying issue.”

We are continuing to investigate options to address player accounts that were impacted. This will take some time as our path forward will be dependent on fixing the underlying issue.

— Destiny 2 Team (@Destiny2Team) August 14, 2024

Although Bungie has maintained that it has the power to alter player names if they violate certain rules, many players were met with a notification that says their name was changed because they are either logging in for the first time or have recently changed their Bungie name. It’s a message that even some longtime players have reported despite neither condition being applicable, with everyone affected being renamed to some variation of “Guardian” followed by a string of random numbers. Complaints about the issue has flooded the Bungie forums as players scramble to find out why their name was changed and how to fix it.

There are games where changing a player’s name is simple – Destiny is not one of them. A Bungie.net name can only be altered once following an account’s creation, with tokens required for any subsequent changes. Thankfully, Bungie does promise to deliver name-change tokens to all players “at a later date.” No additional information was shared, so if you see a lot of names like Guardian2804 running around in the near future, now you know why.

The Destiny 2 Servers are so messed up they took my Name away from me lmao pic.twitter.com/QeKGjkGdpR

— KackisHD (@RickKackis) August 13, 2024

In other Destiny news, Bungie announced that it would let go of hundreds of staff late last month. It’s a decision that had fans questioning the franchise’s future as rumors that the company had no plans for Destiny 3 emerged shortly after. Bungie was quick to chime in, saying last week that it remained committed to the franchise and would have more to share soon.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.