Post-Activision split, Bungie is gearing up for an exciting new year for Destiny 2 players. With so many changes confirmed thanks to Shadowkeep, including PC switch to Steam and cross-save capabilities, it’s exciting to see Bungie’s revamped vision for the space shooter. Now we’re learning a little more about what’s next, including four very different seasons for Destiny 2 year 3.
With Destiny 2 being a live-service game, constant updates are required to keep gameplay fresh and Guardians interested. Some of their attempts have flopped, with others being a huge success, making the desire to know what’s ahead all the more intriguing. According to the studio, Destiny 2 year 3 will feature four very different seasons to make the “ever-growing world” even more expansive despite its rough beginning during launch.
Director Luke Smith mentioned recently that this approach for year 3 is something that is important to the studio, making good on their promise for continuous support with amazing content players can look forward to.
Part of each season will require a transition from one season to the next. Because of this, events will have an expiration date – not unlike how they have it set up now – to aid in a constant rotation of in-game goals.
Smith added “In Season of the Undying, the portal to the Black Garden that was opened as a part of JacketQuest has awoken the Vex, and they are now pouring out across the surface of the Moon. Working with Ikora, players will [Do Some Stuff, Go Somewhere, Fight Some Things, and Solve a Problem aka REDACTED]. By the end of the Season, the portals will close, the world state will change, and the Seasonal activity connected to it will go away.”
He also mentioned “And at the end of the Season, your collective actions will have caused the world state to change and the Seasonal Activity connected to those events will also go away.
“Doing this allows us to evolve the world–narratively, but potentially physically as well. It is not possible to keep Destiny frozen in place to allow all activities to live forever while also changing the world in meaningful ways. This strategy lets our team be agile and innovative. We believe that Destiny will grow even better when the world state can change, and that the best Destiny stories are the ones where “you had to be there when….”‘
The director also mentioned that their reward philosophy will be changing a bit, including how to improve upon Guardian customization. To help, they want to standardize some of the reward mechanisms in each season to allow for a “clear value in its rewards” and be overall more transparent for players. Two of these “predictable” rewards includes the Season Artifact, which is free for everyone, as well to changes on how players can level up and unlock mods. Smith added “Artifact Power adds directly to your overall power and is account-wide.” He also joked that they were equally excited and terrified about all of the new changes, anxious to see how players react.
You can learn even more about what’s on the road ahead with the latest Bungie Destiny 2 year 3 blog post here.
