Bungie finally shared details on Destiny 2’s mysterious 12th season, which kicks off today. A livestream presentation revealed what’s in store for the newly dubbed Season of Arrivals, as well as next-gen plans and significant changes coming this fall.
The stream began with 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to represent the amount of time George Floyd was choked by police. On-screen text showed a list of organizations and urged fans to donate.
After the moment of silence, the half-hour presentation showed off a host of new details and revealed that Destiny 2 will come to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The next-gen version of the game will run at 60 frames per second and feature 4K resolution, and players who already own expansions like Shadowkeep will not need to rebuy them on new consoles. The game will feature intergenerational crossplay between current and new consoles.
While the livestream gave players their first look at today’s Season of Arrivals, the bulk of the presentation was about Bungie’s longer-term plans for its looter shooter. The studio explained that it was “all-in” on Destiny 2 and outlined what it calls a “new era” for the game.
Much of the livestream revolved around Destiny’s larger, Shadowkeep-like fall update. Destiny: Beyond Light launches on September 22 and will bring major changes to the game. The expansion will introduce the new Europa location, which Bungie says is one of the first locations it envisioned for the franchise.
The update will add a new stasis element for players to use. This is the first time in the franchise’s history that it has added a new damage type.
Looking past Beyond Light, Bungie revealed the titles for its next expansions. The Witch Queen will come in 2021, and Lightfall is scheduled for 2022. Each update will introduce new locations.
To cut down on the game’s growing file size, Bungie will cycle old content out of the game with each new expansion. On the flip side, it will bring back some previous content to the game, including the Cosmodrome location and fan-favorite Destiny raid Vault of Glass.
As for Season of Arrivals, Bungie explained that today’s update is a prelude to Beyond Light. The new update revolves around the black pyramid spaceships first seen in orbit during Destiny 2’s base campaign in 2017. While Bungie didn’t share a road map of activities as it has for previous seasons, a short trailer teased a new exotic weapon quest.
To kick things off, a surprise dungeon will appear in the game tonight. The three-person Prophecy activity is free for all players of the game. This is the game’s first dungeon since Shadowkeep’s Pit of Hersey, from which players could obtain the exotic Xenophage weapon.
The game’s next big expansion is still a few months away, so now is a good time to brush up on Destiny 2’s long, complicated story to get a refresher on the black pyramid ships.
