Bungie announced the next expansion for Bungie and Activision split up, with the developer taking complete creative and commercial control over Destiny 2.
The move coincided with Destiny 2 beginning a new life as a free-to-play title. As it stands today, Destiny 2 embraces its MMORPG roots more than it ever did under Activision, though some fans are disappointed in the move towards live event gameplay over bespoke campaign expansions.
In a Bungie press release, the erstwhile Halo developer announced Destiny 2: Beyond Light, the next grand expansion for the popular co-op shooter. The new DLC add-on features a new location to explore, a new raid, new story content, and a new elemental power, Stasis. In addition to the next chapter of the expanding Destiny 2 story, Bungie also announced PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of Destiny 2. Purchases of Destiny 2: Beyond Light on current-gen will be compatible with the next-gen versions, and save progress will be allowed to carry over between console generations.
Pre-orders are now open for Destiny 2: Beyond Light, with a variety of bonuses available to players who purchase early, as well as editions with a range of physical extras. The most expensive of these, the $200 Stranger Edition, comes with a ten-inch doll of Destiny's enigmatic Stranger character. Fortunately, the base purchase of Destiny 2: Beyond Light retails at a more manageable $40. The expansion is due for release on September 22. Release dates for Destiny 2 on next gen were not announced.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light represents the next step for Bungie's online opus, but it's not Destiny 3. The developer insists they have no plans to make a Destiny 3, seeking instead to continually update and upgrade Destiny 2. Bungie took a big risk when they broke away from Activision, and some were skeptical as to whether they could handle a massive game like Destiny 2 on their own. So far, the ionate fandom has had a mixed reception to the current state of Destiny 2, but Beyond Light marks the first true test of Bungie's ability to deliver a complete Destiny 2 expansion without the aid of their prolific mega-publisher.
