It's a long-running adage among Destiny fans that Bungie does its best work when its back is against the wall. That will be of little comfort to those laid off last October at the same time as The Final Shape expansion was delayed, but as I noted last month the studio does seem to have entered one of its 'we're so back' eras.
The new Onslaught horde mode, and its Brave weapon loot, has brought grinders back in droves. The Pantheon boss rush event is also proving popular, with raid virgins popping their cherries and hardcore teams targeting the hardest version for bragging rights. Hell, we even got new PvP maps this week!
All those additions were aimed squarely at keeping the existing player base occupied in the run up to the release of The Final Shape, which closes out the 10-year-long story arc Destiny is on, on June 3. Today, Bungie revealed how it's going to tempt back long-lapsed and completely new players to the Saga: By making all but one of the current expansions free from now until The Final Shape launches.
Those expansions are Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and The Witch Queen, each of which includes its own full campaign and raid. Note that Beyond Light also grants players access to Stasis, a frost-flavoured subclass for your guardian to wield. Somewhat irritatingly, PlayStation Plus members also get access to the Lightfall expansion, which we didn't love, but comes with the Strand subclass (think Spider-Man only glowing green ropes). Regardless, free is free, and you'll be able to keep whatever gear you acquire and exotics you unlock during this period.
Sweetening the pot further, Bungie is making a large chunk of seasonal content free too: "In addition to the expansions, all Seasonal content from Destiny Year 6 is available to all players through June 3, which includes: Season of Defiance, Season of the Deep, Season of the Witch, and Season of the Wish." There's some banger stuff in those seasons, like the Deep Dive and The Coil activities, plus the Avalon and Starcrossed exotic missions.
With massive pressure on The Final Shape to deliver, Bungie is clearly doing everything it can to remove friction for anyone thinking of checking out the game as it approaches the big climax. Whether it can stick the landing we'll have to see, but as an inveterate player since day one I'm glad to see the ship at least heading in the right direction again. We'll have more to talk about on that front soon.
