Ever since Destiny mutterings about the game's story - or rather, a perceived lack of the one that was advertised in pre-release trailers and promotional material.

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Last year, a tester for the game shared on a since-deleted Reddit thread about how he was invited to Bungie to try Destiny out before launch, and encountered a markedly different story to the one the game released with. Though Bungie has always remained quiet on such claims, or even gently refuted them, speculation has always continued that the departure of Bungie lead writer Joseph Staten a year before the game launched was a sign something had gone awry.Now, in documents published by Venturebeat pertaining to the lawsuit between former long-time Bungie employee Marty O’Donnell and the studio over outstanding shares , it appears the mystery has been solved. Destiny's story was "substantially revised" and it was this that led to the game's release being delayed around a year."Although Destiny was planned for release in September 2013, the story was substantially revised beginning August 2013," the documents explain in paragraph 10 of section II. "Requiring a new release date of March 2014 and edits to much of the work previously completed."After a brief vacation/sabbatical in early fall, O'Donnell returned, worked on the story and recorded dialogue, but wrote no additional music. His supervisor and the audio team did not consider him to be fully engaged in the work of Audio Director. For reasons unrelated to O'Donnell's performance, the release date was again moved, to September 2014."What's especially interesting is the fact this decision appears to have been made in August 2013 - a month before Staten, who'd been with the developer for over 15 years, decided to leave the company.As we approach the first anniversary of the game's release, there's little arguing it's a success but one has to wonder if the story revisions were for the best. With the imminent release of The Taken King expansion, a recast Ghost and a renewed promise to focus on story, we're yet to see what the future holds. At last, however, we're finding out all about the past.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter