A recent update to the online shooter Destiny 2 caused its moderation tools to mistakenly alter the account names of numerous players. Here are the latest developer statements and what steps you can take if your Bungie Name was erased.

Destiny 2 Bungie Names Unexpectedly Changed After Recent Update

Bungie to Distribute Name Change Tokens

This week, Destiny 2 players discovered that their account names, also known as Bungie Names, were unexpectedly changed following a recent game update. Many reported that their usernames were replaced by "Guardian" followed by a string of random numbers. This widespread Bungie Name issue, which reportedly started impacting players around August 14, was triggered by an error in Bungie's name moderation system.

"We are investigating a problem where our moderation tool has altered a large number of account names," the Destiny 2 team stated on Twitter (X). "We are actively looking into the situation and will share more details tomorrow, including information about an additional name change token for all players."

Bungie's systems are designed to automatically change account names that breach the company's terms of service, such as those containing offensive content or personal details. However, in this case, many players found themselves assigned the "Guardian[Random Number]" username despite not having violated any rules. This led to confusion and frustration, especially among long-time players who had used the same name without issue since 2015.

In response, Bungie acknowledged the error and launched an investigation. The Destiny 2 team communicated with players through a series of tweets, confirming that a "significant number" of users were impacted by the unintended name changes.

The following day, Bungie reported that they had identified the root cause and implemented server-side fixes to prevent further accidental alterations. "We have pinpointed the issue that was causing the widespread Bungie name changes and have applied a server-side update to stop it from affecting additional accounts," the developers wrote on Twitter (X).

"As mentioned yesterday, we still plan to provide name change tokens to all players at a later date to help resolve this. We will share more information as soon as it becomes available," they added.

While Bungie continues to address this unexpected situation, players are advised to remain patient and watch for further announcements. Those affected by the erroneous name changes can anticipate receiving name change tokens and ongoing updates from the development team.