Valorant Director Joins the Bungie Team
Joe Zeigler was once the game director for Riot’s hit multiplayer FPS – Valorant. This departure wasn’t unexpected, being announced about a week ago. But that doesn’t make it any less of a loss.
Hey everyone, I wanted to let you know that after 12 great years at Riot, this week will be my last week. I am departing with a heart full of gratitude for Riot Games and all of you for the amazing memories we’ve shared together. Will update very soon with my next home.
— Ziegler (@Ziegler_Dev) December 7, 2022
The precise location of his new home wasn’t yet known at the time, but recent tweets have since cleared things up. He’s moving from Valorant to Bungie, presumably for Destiny 2!
Update: Happy to announce my new home is at Bungie working on new stuff that hopefully will one day get to be played by you all. Much <3.
— Ziegler (@Ziegler_Dev) December 19, 2022
At this point, the only knowledge gap we have is the nature of Ziegler’s employment. What exactly will he be contributing to at Bungie? Beyond the obvious (and broad) answer of “Destiny 2”, we can only guess.
There’s some speculation that might hint at a direction, though. It’s one that shatters the seemingly-obvious answer. Whisperings at Bungie hint at a new multiplayer shooter; a wholly new IP intended to be revealed before 2025. While the terminology is vague (I mean, can it really be anything else?), experience with Valorant would certainly offer a boost in credentials for something like that. Bungie has proven that they’re capable of a wide variety of shooters. This new project could be something like Destiny, like classic Halo, or even take a more modern direction. A Valorant director would certainly have insight into that space.