A group of curious and dedicated Destiny gamers may have unveiled the date Bungie plans to release the game's eagerly anticipated expansion, and it's a familiar timeframe.
Destiny players are an enterprising bunch. Just days after a group of Guardians identified a hidden room in the new Nightfall strike that made it significantly easier, another ensemble of gamers might have uncovered the release date of Destiny's next expansion. Curiously enough, however, it appears the players who discovered this hidden piece of information buried deep within the game's lore were aided by a mysterious benefactor who helped point members of the Destiny sub-reddit in the right direction.
Destiny's recent April update, beyond the small but enjoyable additions made to gameplay, apparently brought with it the inclusion of a new piece of in-game lore. The new Grimoire card is hidden within a dead Ghost, which can be found in the Prison of Elders after gamers have completed a full run of the raid. The guide that led gamers to this discover was posted by a redditor named Rezyl Azzir, who uploaded the instructions just 16 minutes after the April update went live - implying that he somehow downloaded the update, ran through the Prison of Elders, and uncovered the new lore addition in that timeframe.
That would be ridiculous, however, and other Destiny players agreed. Further inspection of the Grimoire card revealed that it detailed a character named Rezyl Azzir as well, and that prior to that redditor deleting the account in question, he left a message in Latin. Once translated by Latin-speaking Destiny players, the message becomes:
"The twentieth day of the ninth month. IT is coming. Forward, to the stars."
Given that the twentieth day of the ninth month is September 20, and that Bungie had previously stated that the next Destiny expansion would be available this fall, it appears the crafty developer may have used a little viral marketing to inform gamers of exactly when to expect the new release. Whether or not that new release includes the new Mars area that many speculate was originally going to be included in The Taken King remains a mystery, much like who Rezyl Azzir really was.
Regardless of the intrigue surrounding Azzir and the encrypted message, however, news of a new Destiny expansion will be welcome from a playerbase that has found itself without much direction in the past few months. Bungie's relative silence on plans for future content and the departure of Destiny's creative lead caused some fans to believe there was a big shake-up about to happen, and finally getting an exact date for the new expansion is certainly big enough to qualify.
After all, The Taken King revolutionized Destiny's gameplay and was considered by many critics a huge step forward for the game - despite recent troubles, another expansion like that could launch Destiny back into the spotlight for all the right reasons soon. Do you think a new expansion is all Destiny needs to keep players engaged and entertained? Do you think this kind of viral marketing approach is fun, or would you rather just get the release date from an official source? Let us know in the comments below.
Destiny is currently available for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.