The Destiny brand releases a new major expansion or even a fresh game every autumn. However, Destiny 2 might do things differently in September 2019 and skip the release, says our author Schuhmann.
It has always been like this: September is traditionally the release month for a new Destiny title or a major expansion. This has been the master plan from Activision.
- 2014 – Destiny
- 2015 – The Taken King
- 2016 – Rise of Iron
- 2017 – Destiny 2
- 2018 – Forsaken
- 2019 – Borderlands 3
Something is wrong in the chain.
What is Destiny doing this year? We do not know. The content plan for Destiny goes into the summer of 2019, but not beyond.
With Penumbra, another DLC is supposed to be coming, which will conclude Year 2 of Destiny 2 – how Year 3 will look, we do not know:
These are the 4 options for Destiny 2 Year 3:
- In Destiny 1, Year 3 saw the emergency expansion “Rise of Iron,” the smallest September release ever. It was announced in June 2016 and released in September. Thus, Bungie might still have time for this solution. It might be that Penumbra is preparing such a “small expansion” that Bungie has been working on for months.
- It seems almost impossible for Destiny 3 to be released in September 2019. Many signs indicate that it will not be until 2020 – perhaps even until the release of the new console generation at the end of 2020.
- Whether Bungie wants to continue the idea of the season pass seems rather unlikely. Because it tears the player base apart. Destiny 2 is finding it increasingly difficult to remain relevant outside the hardcore core with this model.
- The 4th option is a “free update” like they did for most of the time between November 2015 and September 2017 – somehow struggle along in live operations with events until the next release.
What are the odds that nothing will come? What has been heard suggests that behind the separation from Activision was a certain frustration that Activision demanded annual releases from Bungie.
At Bungie, it is said that there was celebration when Activision and thus the time pressure were eliminated, as reported from “well-informed circles.”
It may be possible that the desire for separation from Activision stemmed from Bungie’s inability to deliver in 2019.
A statement from Activision regarding the separation suggests: they did not expect significant revenues from Bungie in 2019.
Furthermore, it seems that now Borderlands 3 has clearly positioned itself with its release date on Destiny’s spot – Bungie would have a hard time breaking through in September 2019, especially with a “smaller big release.”
When will we learn more? If Bungie really plans to pull off a release in 2019, we should learn more in June around E3.
But one should not be surprised if the release streak of 2019 breaks.
One has the feeling: The first release after the separation from Activision must hit and give a clear direction. New features, new worlds, new enemies, and new ideas would be important to signal a breakthrough.
It seems questionable whether this release will be ready by September 2019. A break would not be bad to avoid fatigue from “same old thing every year.”
Bungie is in a new situation with Destiny 2 in 2019 regarding its own starting position. But the environment has also changed significantly in the last 5 years. Perhaps they need a year off to restructure and reassess.
