Oftentimes, video games will contain references to other games, either ones already released or those in development. Usually, these will be from the same developer, and such is the case with a reference to Destiny found within Halo 3: ODST.
Despite its release five years earlier in 2009, Halo 3: ODST contains a tease of 2014's Destiny. This ꦗreference ꦐcomes in the form of a poster found in the game's campaign.
Reddit use♎r Jesus_Sꩵhaves_ posted an image of the poster to Reddit, which can be seen below.
The poster flatly states that "Destiny awaits." Below the text is the Traveler, as the Reddit user points out, in addition to a symbol below, captioned "Asklon." Jesus_Shaves_ notes that the Traveler, while it could be mistaken as the Moon or another planet, is actually the recognizable white orb from the first Destiny that is just above Earth.
This appears to be a reference that was very easy to miss, especially for those unaware of Destiny's development. Of course, at the time, Destiny wasn't at the forefront of Microsoft or Bungie's agenda, given the release of Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, and the impending release of Halo: Reach. No one at the time was predicting the eventual split between the two parties, which would result in Destiny being a multi-pꦛlatform release, rather than a Microsoft exclusive.
Even so, this goes to show how long games are in their development phases. Development cycles have gotten longer and longer over the years, and Destiny's reference in Halo 3: ODST is an example of this. Further, games like Red Dead Redemption II and The Last of Us: Part II also ended up lastin🧸g years in development before their eventual release,ཧ even with stories of crunch surrounding them.
Meanwhile, Bungie has had quite the journey with Destiny. While Destiny was underwhelming to some, Destiny 2 helped rede💦em the franchise and saw Bungie break away frꦆom Activision to take full control. The game then got a full expansion at the end of 2019, with more content on the way.
Clearly, Destiny has been an important project to Bungie for a long time, which continues to sho𒉰w to this day.
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