Destiny 2's New Release Schedule Explained

Summary

Destiny 2 is moving to a twice-yearly expansion model, with each expansion costing $39.99.
Content in Destiny 2 will no longer be vaulted after new expansions, addressing player frustrations.
Each expansion will include a season and a major update, free for all players, to supplement paid content.

Bungie recently lifted the lid on Destiny 2’s release schedule, with the next chapter, The Edge of Fate, giving players plenty of details about the game’s next arc after the Episodes wrapped up. Travelling to Kepler, a planetoid in the Oort Cloud, Guardians will come face to dark-matter-face with The Nine in a big way, unravelling the mysteries behind how Light and Darkness interacts with the very fabric of the universe. The expansion will also be kicking off some sizable sandbox changes, with a total revamp of weapons and armor, as well as a new solo experience.

It isn’t just the story and core gameplay getting a facelift. The traditional pace of content came to an end with The Final Shape, wrapping up Destiny 2’s yearly expansion and seasonal model, replaced by three Episodes. However, the expansion model is being changed up again, and Bungie just revealed loads of details on the game’s yearly expansion cadence going forward.

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By Joseph Whitfield

Destiny 2’s Fate Saga Is Changing the Expansion Release Schedule

Unusual for a live service game, Destiny 2 is ditching the seasonal model almost completely, returning to a much more classic large expansion model. The game is about to take on a new release cycle with the upcoming Fate Saga, the next major story arc spanning multiple years, spreading releases out more evenly. Bungie has broken up its new yearly content model into four parts: two expansions and two major updates.

Starting with the Year of Prophecy, each expansion will drop approximately six months apart, delivering substantial content updates. These expansions will have their own campaigns, destinations, and loot, with the expansion that launches mid-way through the year containing a new raid, and the year-end expansion containing a dungeon. The expansions will be $39.99 each, the only content players will need to pay for, and Bungie claims they will be similar in size to Destiny 1’s Rise of Iron.

To supplement these expansions, each one will include a season and major update, free for everyone. Seasons are mainly a rewards pass, reflecting all the free-to-play elements not covered by an expansion. Between each expansion, Destiny 2 will receive a major update, almost like miniature versions of old seasons, including new and/or reprised activities, large sandbox updates, events, and loot. These smaller updates may not have large stories to them, but Bungie has said they will each have their own minor narratives.

To put this all in context, The Edge of Fate will be Destiny 2’s next paid expansion, running from July 15 to December 2. Free-to-play Guardians won’t be able to play this - instead, they will be able to engage with core activities during season Reclamation, running alongside the expansion. On September 9, the major update Ash & Iron will release for all players, returning Guardians to the Plaguelands from all the way back in Destiny 1. Then on December 2, Renegades will begin, bringing its own season Lawless and major update Shadow & Order launching March 03, 2026, with the Year of Prophecy capping off later that year.

Seasonal Content Will No Longer Be Getting Vaulted

One of the core frustrations that players have had with Destiny 2 is how little time a lot of its best content has been around for. The Coil, one of Destiny 2’s most popular activities, was only in the game for six months before being sunset when The Final Shape launched. Now that the old content model is gone, Bungie has promised that content will not be removed following the launch of a new expansion.

This is surely welcome news to many players, as many people who don’t play Destiny 2 have heard about how often content is removed, putting them off from playing. Now activities will have a longer lifespan, which should satisfy these worried gamers, although it may present some problems down the road with Destiny 2’s enormous file size. The future aside, the Fate Saga marks a significant shift for the game, and everything so far points to Bungie wanting its free-to-play title to be fresh and re-energized for a new phase in its lifecycle.

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