Destiny 2 as a shooter offers lots of different options for game modes, ranging from purely PVE ones to a blend of PVE and PVP in the form of Gambit, and also a plethora of purely PVP modes. With things like Momentum Control, Iron Banner, and Rumble, Destiny 2 players can easily jump between modes and have fun in many ways. Still, up to Season of the Lost, many players lamented how some PVP modes had become more toxic and generally "sweaty," meaning that matches could be quite hard to win.
This was especially considered to be true in Trials of Osiris, previously Trials of the Nine, where players would constantly report others for cheating and feel like there were too many headshots and precision kills. However, with Destiny 2's Season of the Lost, many of these things changed because of three main factors. The first is that Bungie partnered with BattleEye to address the cheating situation, the second is that Trials of Osiris stopped counting as wins those matches where the opposing team quits, and the third is that the game mode itself became much more rewarding and appealing to all players.
As such, the result is that this past weekend was the one with the most matches played in the entire history of the franchise, and that's including Destiny 1. This record is nothing to scoff at, as a Redditor by the name of RagnarLothbrok2525 reported, as the number of matches played surpassed the previous record by a lot, and this was 20 hours ago, as per the Trials Report Twitter account. RagnarLothbrok2525 also noted how over 700,000 players participated in the Trials of Osiris this weekend, and around 200,000 of those players went Flawless and got to the Lighthouse.
The total number of participants amounts to around 30% of the entire playerbase, too. This is an outstanding fact, and it pairs with how some Destiny 2 weapons were previously top picks, like sniper rifles, and also came with incredible precision kill rates. This likely changed thanks to BattleEye and the game mode being so much more populated than in the past, and it shows just how important it is to make something accessible to everyone, rather than making it a niche activity.
As such, many players are now praising Bungie over the Trials of Osiris rework, and some even came up with great suggestions to improve the way players can travel to the Hangar in the Tower. Overall, this weekend was a success because Bungie put a lot of work into Trials being the best version of themselves after all the issues with the Hakke Casino method.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.