This is Bungie's latest development. Previously, players launched massive protests against the decision to put Destiny 2 into maintenance mode, prompting Bungie to reverse its plan to shut down the game. In my opinion, this move is quite strange—I would have thought that now, with Destiny 2 on the verge of a rebirth, it would be the perfect time to keep the store open for business. Regardless of whether building a new store is truly necessary, taking the old store offline for months for development feels completely counterproductive.
What's even more interesting is that the Marathon store, which has its own subdomain, will not go offline during the construction of the "new homepage." The pages of the two stores look almost identical, and I really can't figure out what this move is all about.
Here's a simple comparison between the two:
I suspect the most likely outcome is that the Bungie Store will be integrated into Sony's own store—much like how Bungie itself was fully acquired by Sony after the plan for an "independent subsidiary" completely fell through.
Many fans hope this move will reduce shipping costs, which is somewhat of a positive change. However, with Sony taking full control, the range of future merchandise might shrink. All of this is still speculation, but then again, so is the current state of Bungie and Destiny 2: changes are underway, but we currently have no clear idea of the specific direction they will take.
One thing is certain: the familiar Bungie Store will close on October 19, while digital download content and badge redemption codes will remain valid until December 31. If you're looking to buy anything, now's the time to act fast.