There are a million and one reasons cosplaying is a fine art. It requires not only time, patience, and resources, but also a very specific skill set that can include everything from expert wig selection to carpentry. The folks at videogame developer Bungie understand this struggle. That’s why they create characters for their wickedly popular Destiny series with the challenges facing cosplayers in mind.
"One of the ways we think about character creation is 'How are we creating a character who can be cosplayed by people who love our game?'" says Luke Smith, the director of the Destiny sequel Destiny 2, which is out in open beta today.
When the team at Bungie does this, Smith says, they think about each character’s hairstyle, coloring, and clothing and how easy those elements will be for players to replicate IRL. And fans have responded. There are now Etsy shops, YouTube tutorials, and Pinterest boards full of tips and tools for the game’s devoted cosplayers. "It’s just humbling to see any character from our game world that someone spent a bunch of time to like dress up [like] and embody," Smith says. "It’s always amazing and the team gets super excited about it."
Cosplaying isn't the only thing Bungie's developers took into account when making their latest release, of course. Check out more of Smith’s answers to fan questions about Destiny 2, which hits consoles next month, in the Tech Support video above.
