Destiny 2’s getting two paid expansions this year and one of them is Star Wars themed
Marathon might be the Bungie game getting all the attention following last month’s big reveal, but the studio’s keen to remind everyone Destiny 2 is still a thing – and a thing it’s planning to support for a good long while. To that end, it’s now revealed Destiny 2’s next major multi-year story arc, which’ll include a paid Star Wars expansion before the end of the year.
Bungie first teased a major shake-up of Destiny 2’s release model last September, saying it would be ditching its traditional large-scale annual expansions and instead releasing two “medium-sized” paid expansions a year. And now, thanks to its latest developer stream, we’ve got a much clearer idea of what that’ll look like when the plan takes effect this July.
With Destiny 2’s decade-spanning Light and Dark Saga now officially concluded, Bungie has unveiled its next major story arc, the Fate Saga. It begins on 15th July with the Year of Prophecy and the launch of a new paid expansion, The Edge of Fate. “[This] is the start of a long journey,” the studio writes in its announcement post, “and we are taking our time to tell a new story that for now will leave you with many unanswered questions. Each expansion will help answer some, so having two a year will allow us to deliver those beats at a faster pace than before.”
Starting with The Edge of Fate, it takes players to a new destination known as Kepler, said to be inspired by “the puzzle-solving and pathfinding challenges of Destiny 2’s dungeons and destination design which encourages deep exploration, mystery, and player-driven discovery.” There’s talk of a new raid, plus new enemies, weapons, gear, and “destination-specific” abilities. The latter includes the Matterspark ability, enabling Guardians to change forms to navigate the terrain – with one of those forms looking a lot like Metroid’s Morph Ball.
The Edge of Fate also marks the start of new season, Reclamation, and is accompanied by a free “core game update” for all players. This introduces the likes of new events and challenges, alongside a range of new features. There’s a new activity selection screen known as The Portal, for instance, which is intended to provide easier access to Fireteam Ops, Pinnacle Ops, Crucible Ops, and Solo Ops activities. It arrives alongside Destiny 2’s Armour 3.0 rework and a new tier system, with a new permanent shooting range – enabling raid groups to test out their tactics on different enemies and bosses – coming later down the line.
More free content arrives on 9th September under the banner Ash & Iron (Bungie hasn’t said much about this yet beyond the fact it’s a “major update” with an associated Rewards Pass) and that’s followed by the weirdest part of today’s announcement, Renegades, on 2nd December. It’s unclear how this Star Wars themed second paid expansion is supposed to fit into Bungie’s new story arc, but the studio says it’ll be “integral” to the Fate Saga as it merges “Destiny’s distinctive storytelling and gameplay with themes and elements drawn from the iconic sci-fi franchise”. It includes a new dungeon, plus “new Destiny characters, innovative activities, and evolved mechanics designed to surprise and delight players.”
Finally, Destiny 2’s Year of Prophecy gets its fourth and final release – another free “major update” titled Shadow & Order – on 3rd March next year. And if either of this year’s paid expansions appeal, Bungie has opened pre-orders – for each individual expansion as well as a number of Year of Prophecy bundles – on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. More details can be found in its announcement post.
