Destiny 2: Beyond Light is coming a few months later than initially expected, but it's almost here, and fans are grinding hard to get their characters ready for the DLC's new maps, enemies, and of course, the new raid. Bungie's marketing for the Destiny 2 expansion has focused on some of the most impressive additions, like the Stasis subclasses, exotic gear, and new destination Europa, but the studio hasn't said as much about how much playable content fans can expect out of the pack until now.
According to game director Luke Smith, fans can expect Beyond Light to have more content than last year's Shadowkeep expansion, but not as much as 2018's Forsaken, which was developed both internally at Bungie itself and externally through former publishing partner Activision. Speaking to Twitch Gaming, the director said that Forsaken's larger production across two teams allowed Bungie to produce a more sizeable DLC, and the studio had to focus its efforts on later releases after choosing to make the game independently.
"It's not as big as Forsaken," Smith said. "We are just one team working from home, but I also think it's strictly larger than Shadowkeep last year." The director cited Europa, the game's fresh new destination, as part of the project's ambitions, as well as the Stasis subclasses, which grant Guardians ice and time-freezing powers with a never-before-seen element. Smith also ruled out the possibility of another Forsaken-sized expansion coming in the foreseeable future, saying that the studio's team simply wouldn't be able to sustain such a project within its established deadlines.
The news may come as a disappointment to some, but Beyond Light having a larger scope than Shadowkeep is a clear positive. While impressive in its execution overall, last year's expansion was somewhat underwhelming in its delivery. Much of the best parts of Destiny in late 2019 and 2020 so far have been from the season passes instead, and if Beyond Light can keep a similar consistency while also shaking up players' abilities and the overall metagame, Guardians could be in for a treat with this year's expansion.
Smith's comments suggested that the mid-sized expansion pack idea would also apply to Destiny 2's further expansions for 2021 and 2022. The Witch Queen and Lightfall may be a long way off, but both are likely already well into the production stages, along with Bungie's upcoming project Matter, which has been in the works for a while but remains a mystery.
With Bungie now working on Destiny as a fully independent IP and handling everything in-house rather than outsourcing development to other studios the way it did under Activision, focusing on smaller DLCs with a greater emphasis on keeping live content in rotation might be a better fit for the game's long-term health. Developers like Epic, Hi-Rez and Psyonix have seen success by keeping things fresh with frequent content drops, and Bungie seems to be headed in a similar direction for its beloved looter-shooter.
Destiny 2 is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. Destiny 2: Beyond Light is set to launch on November 10th.
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Source: Twitch Gaming