Destiny 2 free-to-play players seem to be getting a rough deal when Beyond Light releases this November.
Earlier this year, Bungie revealed its intention to turn out old, irrelevant content Destiny 2 making room for new and more interesting content. Bungie called this the Destiny Content Vault, and the idea has been controversial since its introduction.
In a blog post, Bungie detailed exactly what will happen on November 10 with the release of the Beyond Light expansion. Although the developer did not specifically specify how the free-to-play New Light version of Destiny 2 will look in November, the studio confirmed a long list of planets and their associated activities, all on their way to the outside world. As you may have guessed, they also make the most of the content in New Light.
As detailed in our break-up of free-to-play New Light, much of the content that Bungie offered for free was released in the first year of the game. All that disappears in November, and several other modes that free-to-play players had access to are also removed.
For starters, Red War, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind campaigns are all on the cutting edge. The three combined served as an introduction to the mechanics of Destiny 2, as well as conflicts and factions, and not to mention were the most accessible, highly produced parts of the game. Bungie is working on an “extended Guardian origin story” that will take place in the Cosmodrome – which returns from Destiny 1 this year, but which is intended as a sort of tutorial for new players.
It also does not look like content from subsequent campaigns will take the place of those three that will be removed, as Bungie explicitly stated that Forsaken and Shadowkeep story campaigns will only remain available to players who buy / buy them.
Because Io, Titan, Mars, Mercury, and Leviathan are all vaulted, all the strikes and raids that take place there are also gone with them. As you might imagine, many of these strikes and raids were part of the free-to-play roster, which further cuts the content of New Light. Even co-op activities of year 2, such as The Menagerie, Reckoning and the three Black Armory Forges, are also all vaulted.
This leaves the new Gambit, a mix of regular Gambit and Gambit Prime, and the Crucible. Both of these activities will be combined, meaning that everyone who plays Destiny 2 will have access to the same selection of cards.
At this point, save for the new tutorial that Bungie is working on, I’m not sure what PvE activities New Light players will have access to after November 10th. Sure, they may still be able to orbit the solar system, but they will apparently not be able to participate in the vast majority of available story missions, strikes, raids, and other co-op activities.
Beyond Light is set to release on November 10, which is when that will already take effect.
