A few days ago, NetEase released an all-new spin-off in the Destiny franchise called Destiny: Rising. Developed under license from Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment, the game is a free-to-play MMO for mobile phones that can be played in both first- and third-person. Destiny: Rising may not be a one-to-one replica of the mainline Destiny games, but it does contain a lot of the core features of the series' flagship titles, such as Raid-like missions, PvP modes, and looter shooter elements. Some of the mechanics in the game, in fact, like the ability to dual-wield weapons, are not even present in Bungie's Destiny titles.
Destiny: Rising is only a week old, but the game is already poised to become a big commercial success for NetEase. Prior to its launch, Destiny: Rising accumulated over 10 million pre-registrations in the span of a few months. Now, it seems that many of the people who pre-registered for the title have already downloaded and checked it out. As NetEase itself recently confirmed , Destiny: Rising has become the most downloaded mobile game on Google Play and the App Store in several regions around the world. The response to the game as a whole, meanwhile, has also been quite positive, with some players even arguing that it actually surpasses Destiny 2 in some ways.
Destiny: Rising Could Give Bungie an Avenue to Boost Destiny 2's Engagement
The unprecedented success of Destiny: Rising suggests a lot about the state of Destiny 2 and the things that Bungie can do to bring players back to its flagship FPS. While Destiny 2 certainly isn't a dead game, it has struggled to retain its player base quite a bit in recent years. The game's concurrent player count on Steam reached record-breaking lows back in April 2025, and the latest paid Destiny 2 expansion, The Edge of Fate, failed to provide a major increase in player turnout. Destiny 2 still has a long way to go until it can regain the trust of the players it has lost, but Bungie could use collaborations with Destiny: Rising as an avenue to boost engagement for the game.
Destiny: Rising Players Could Be Incentivized to Check Out Destiny 2 With a Crossover Event
Destiny 2 has collaborated with many different franchises over the years, from Mass Effect and For Honor to Assassin's Creed and even Ghostbusters. Although the content of most of these crossovers has usually not amounted to anything substantial , they've often been able to drive an increase in interest for the game. Because of this, it would make sense for Bungie to add a Destiny: Rising-themed collaboration to Destiny 2 at some point. If Destiny: Rising maintains its popularity, a potential crossover event with the game could incentivize some of its players to give Destiny 2 a shot.
Despite bearing the Destiny name, the events of Destiny: Rising are not actually canon to the franchise's overarching narrative.
The Success of Destiny: Rising Shows That It May Be Time for Bungie to Make Destiny 3
Regardless of whether Destiny 2 is able to win back its players, though, Destiny: Rising's successful launch arguably suggests that a new mainline Destiny game is what the series needs to get back on its feet. In the last few years, the topic of a potential Destiny 3 has been brought up quite often among the broader Destiny 2 community. Although some longtime players have been opposed to the idea of such a game, simply because they don't want to lose the progress they made in Destiny 2, many have advocated for it, in part because they feel that the Destiny series has not been very welcoming to newcomers as of late.
A Destiny 2 Sequel Currently Seems Unlikely, But Plans Could Change in the Future
At the moment, it seems that Bungie isn't that interested in making a hypothetical sequel to Destiny 2. Last year, a report from Bloomberg revealed that the company, which was recently working on a now-canceled Destiny spin-off called Payback, is only interested in releasing smaller Destiny 2 updates for the time being. While the chances of Bungie giving the green light to Destiny 3 seem slim, perhaps it will change its stance on the matter sometime in the future. After all, a new mainline Destiny game that’s on par with, if not better than, Destiny: Rising in terms of quality, could get far more players at launch than a Destiny 2 expansion ever could.
- Released
- August 28, 2025
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
- NetEase Games
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Destiny
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Science Fiction
