There’s big news coming out of the Bungie camp today regarding Destiny 2. Just ahead of E3, the company has announced its future expansion and more. The biggest move, which I think was written on the wall a long time ago, is that the game is going free to play.
The game will be rebranded as Destiny 2: New Light, and will include all year one content in its free to play flavor. All additional content, including the upcoming Shadowkeep DLC (more on that in a minute), will be paid for content. In a market where free to play games like Fortnite and Apex Legends have been more popular than ever, I can’t say that this is a bad move for Bungie. While I have not played Fortnite myself, and Apex Legends definitely doesn’t have the market share it did when first launched, there’s no denying that these games, and others like it, are the thing people want; though, Tetris 99 is still my favorite Battle Royale game.
Now, while Destiny is nowhere near the BR genre, its still a great way to bring in new players to an already great gaming experience. This isn’t the first time we have seen something like this with Destiny, though on a much smaller scale. Last November, the game was offered for free on PC, and also through the Playstation Plus program, but now it’s going full scale and not going back. I suspect that we will see a sharp uptick in players once this actually takes place, but who knows how long it will stay at that level.
In addition to this announcement, Bungie has also announced cross-save capabilities. For those that don’t know, this essentially means that you will be able to play your character on your PC, and play that same character, with all your stats and gear, on PS4. And yes, Kotaku has confirmed that cross-save was confirmed by Sony. This is exciting news as many people these days have more than one console/platform, and being able to switch between them is a really cool. Keep in mind, that you will likely have to purchase any of the paid content on all platforms you intend for which you intend to play the game. But this is still a start to something gamers have been clamoring for for years. You will be able to visit the Forsaken/Shadowkeep locations without actually owning the expansions. Also, it looks like Gambit and other activities will be available without the purchase of the expansions.
Shadowkeep is the all new DLC coming on September 17, 2019. Catch the trailer below. One interesting thing about Shadowkeep is it is the first standalone expansion for the game. This means you do not have to own any of the previous expansions in order to play. Not even the core game, from what I understand, but that would just be silly since it is going free to play. Shadowkeep will see players return to the long forgotten moon, where new nightmares have emerged from the shadows. Called forth by haunting visions from her past, Eris Morn has returned and unleashed a long dormant power that she cannot control.
On top of all of this, Destiny 2 is jumping the Blizzard Battle.Net ship. This only makes sense with Bungie’s split from Activision, a move I still say Activision is eventually going to regret. With this, we will see Destiny 2 move from the Battle.Net launcher over to Steam. In fact, the Shadowkeep expansion is already posted on Steam. This move will take place on the same date that Shadowkeep launches. Don’t worry, though. Current PC players will be able to bring all of their progress and purchases with them when they transfer. Guardians, vaults, and everything else will make the move with a few quick steps. We will get you more information on this as soon as it becomes available.
Well, Destiny fans. What do you think? Is this a good move for the game? Is this likely to bring you back into the fold if you stopped playing? I hope to see you all online.
