Destiny 2 is free. Right now.
Whether you play your video games on PC, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One, you can fire your machine up at any time to download the entire game and play it to your heart's content. That started on Oct. 1 with the launch of Destiny 2: New Light.
Maybe you're not familiar with Destiny. The series launched in 2014 from Bungie, the studio that created Halo. When Bungie reclaimed its independence from Microsoft in 2007 – giving up all rights to its blockbuster Xbox series in the process – Destiny was the next step.
Halo is a good starting point for understanding its successor. Both games are first-person shooters set in outer space, and both have traditionally built their power fantasy around fast-paced action and best-in-the-genre game "feel." Very few action games can compete when it comes to Destiny's knack for making your every movement and every fired bullet just feel satisfying.
The two franchises start to diverge from here, though. Where Bungie-era Halo rested much of its success on an ongoing sci-fi story and mainstream accessibility, Destiny is built more specifically for the gaming audience of the 2010s. It's an always-online action-RPG that rewards investment. The more time you spend playing, the more new and often game-changing toys you add to your arsenal.
Image: bungie
Since its launch in Sept. 2017, Bungie has been fine-tuning Destiny 2, trying to strike the right balance between catering to diehard fans while convincing newcomers to stay. It hasn't always gone well. Those efforts generally coalesce annually around a major autumn launch that sort of sets the tone for the year of content that follows.
New Light is technically just half of Bungie's 2019 charge, arriving alongside the more diehard-focused season of content, called Shadowkeep. While free-to-play people are learning the ropes and enjoying everything from Destiny 2's first year of release (plus a little more), longtime players are delving into secrets tucked away deep beneath the surface of Earth's moon.
Importantly, there isn't a towering wall separating paid players and free players into separate camps. Everyone can team up for any activity, and while that won't let the free-to-play crowd tangle with Shadowkeep stuff, it does mean that longtime fans can easily show their newly arrived friends around. Especially since there's always something to be earned in Destiny 2 now, regardless of what you're doing in the game.
That's because with New Light and Shadowkeep together, Bungie has essentially re-written the way Destiny 2 expands over time. For one, the level-up system the game launched with has been eliminated completely. Starting on Oct. 1, Bungie set a power "floor" of sorts on all activities.
Importantly, there isn't a towering wall separating paid players and free players.
Everything released prior to Shadowkeep, including the cooperative raids that represent the high point of Destiny's endgame, is in reach for New Light players. Most people will probably want to get some better gear before diving in with something like the Leviathan raid, but level requirements for older content no longer exist.
I can't stress enough what a massive shift this is. For most of its life, Destiny has been a game of haves and have-nots. You either put the time in to get the kind of arsenal you'd need to tackle the game's most involved activities, or you didn't.
Post-New Light, gear and loadouts are still huge pieces of the experience. But for older content at least, there's no longer an arbitrary number you have to reach for before you can hop in. That opens the door to some of the most potent loot in the game almost right away, and it gives newcomers a reason to badger their Destiny stanning friends to lend a hand.
That ties into the other piece of Destiny 2's leap forward: there's something to earn at all times now, no matter which activity you're playing. Starting with Shadowkeep, Bungie introduced a series of "Season Pass" unlocks that aren't so different from Fortnite's Battle Pass. You earn experience points as you play, and over time that XP gets you seasonal unlocks. All players get one track for free, and Shadowkeep Season Pass buyers get a second, paid-only track as well.
New Light also benefits from its rapid introduction to Destiny 2's many activities. The free-to-play game replaces the story-driven campaign that launched in 2017 with a simple set of quests designed to put newcomers through the full spectrum of Destiny experiences.
In only a couple hours, New Light players can unlock every location in the game and get a nice pile of guns and armor. They're introduced to some of the important concepts that shape the longer investment game in Destiny 2. It can still feel confusing and unapproachable, but New Light streamlines the process of getting newcomers prepared to play with their friends.
Image: bungie
It seems to me that that's the key component in Bungie's New Light gamble. Destiny is an online game first, and it's always been a stronger experience when played with friends. The problem in the past has always been that diehard players go deep on new content while newly arrived friends struggle to catch up, and often quit in frustration. The new twist on leveling means that's less of an issue now.
SEE ALSO: When 'Destiny' was born
With New Light, Bungie seems to be making a bet that the organic onboarding process that all players face will happen much more swiftly, before that "quit in frustration" moment has a chance to happen. Newcomers want to learn how to play and longtime players, thanks to the Season Pass, have a tangible reason to help them.
There's another layer to that gamble as well. The free-to-play switch, along with the redesign that shoves newcomers directly into what used to qualify as Destiny 2's endgame, seems to be built on a a very simple and straightforward pitch: come play this thing that lots of people find extremely fun, with no strings attached. You can worry about seasons and esoteric gear mod systems and all that other complicated stuff later, after you're hooked on the basics.
It's an appealing proposition for one of the most popular and enduring video game series' of the past decade. The larger structural changes that arrived in Destiny 2 alongside New Light have been well-received so far, and the fan community is buzzing with a strong desire to help newcomers find their footing.
So give Destiny 2 a whirl. Find your friends who play it (you probably have some) and tell them to show you what's good. There's never been a better time.
