As Beyond Light launches this November, Destiny 2 will see the most significant changes in content since the game first launched in 2017. Alongside a new planet, new subclasses, new story chapters, new Strikes and Crucible maps, there's a ton of changes coming to the already-existing Destiny 2 sandbox. Bungie has introduced a system it has dubbed the "Destiny Content Vault," which will be storing much of the original content that was added to the game since the game's launch, and potentially subsequent content updates as well.
This is huge for Destiny 2, which despite huge expansions like Forsaken and Shadowkeep, has kept all legacy content in the game up until this point. Come November 10, several base planets, DLC planets, and their related areas/activities will be placed into the DCV. For a game as huge as Destiny 2 is currently, it's a bit of a double-edged sword. There's still a lot of content remaining in the game, and likely still will have plenty to do after the DCV shelving, but it does mean a lot of what Destiny 2 currently offers is being shelved for newer activities.
Come November, Destiny 2 Changes Significantly
Bungie has already outlined what existing content is leaving Destiny 2 with the DCV this November, and it's a pretty sizable list. Titan, Io, Mercury, Mars, The Farm, and the Leviathan locations are leaving, alongside many of the activities associated with each location. That means, Patrols, Strikes, Raids, even Crucible maps are leaving with them. Many of the related exotic quests and exotic catalysts will be impossible to complete as well because they're tied to previous locations. The only exception is the "Prophecy" dungeon, which is being taken offline temporarily due to a technical bug that needs to be ironed out.
For those who have been with Destiny 2 since the beginning, these are huge changes for the game guardians who have come to know the solar system so well. The Red War, the Curse of Osiris, the Warmind, all of the pivotal early story moments (mostly before the Forsaken expansion) will soon become a fond memory. Obviously, with Beyond Light and subsequent content years comes a ton of new content for Destiny 2. Plus, considering the DCV is a repository for existing content, it theoretically doesn't mean this content can't be reinitialized temporarily in future updates.
Beyond Light May Come At a Bad Time
That being said, the first season of the Beyond Light already brings a lot to the table for Destiny 2. A whole new planet to explore, alongside a new combat element and subclasses to match. Narratively speaking, the story of Destiny 2 is also reaching a very pivotal moment in the overarching Destiny lore. The Darkness has made its foreboding presence known in humanity's galaxy, with some theorizing that the removal of these planets are the result of an attack made by the Darkness. Obviously the pragmatic reason is to save storage space and reduce the storage size of the game, but it'd be an interesting contextualization of that in Destiny lore.
Unfortunately, the new release date after Beyond Light was delayed from September to November means plenty of competition with its new release date. Obviously Destiny 2 has always catered to the majority of its hardcore fanbase, but it does mean the usual influx of new players at the start of a new content year may not be as plentiful as before. November 10 is right on the start of the new console generation, alongside the release of several major players like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Demon's Souls, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Cyberpunk 2077, all within the span of a week or two between each other.
Destiny 2's New Beginning May Shift and Change its Schedule
Since the delay, it's unclear if this means Destiny 2 will forever stick to a newly shifted content schedule, or return back to its initial seasonal framework. There's a few ways Bungie could orchestrate that if necessary, and would probably better overall for the game since it helps avoid any big competition between other game releases. One possible solution would be to simply extend a single season out so that it's slightly longer than the usual time. That not only provides more development time for the subsequent season(s), but brings Destiny 2 back on to the typical content schedule the game used to run on.
Another solution would be to have a much shorter season somewhere throughout the current schedule to transition back to normal releases. Logistically speaking, this would probably be more difficult, but would be a solid transition back into the usual seasonal release schedule from before. Or Destiny 2 might just run with this new content release schedule permanently, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Before, Destiny 2 used to stand on its own being spaced a month or two away from the big Fall/Holiday game releases. Now it releases during a time where big games are coming out, and while the hardcore fans will obviously return, fans of other games may not turn out.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light launches on November 10, 2020, for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The PS5 version launches on November 13, 2020.