Despite all the new stuff coming to Destiny 2 over this past year, ever since the release of the Beyond Light expansion last November, PVP players solidified a negative streak of no new Crucible content because 11 maps were removed. As a matter of fact, the last time new maps came to the Crucible was with the release of the Shadowkeep expansion, almost 2 years ago now. Then, Beyond Light came and Bungie vaulted old Destiny 2 locations that coincidentally hosted the aforementioned 11 maps, but there seems to be something to look forward to next year based on the tweets from Joe Blackburn, the assistant game director at Bungie.
Blackburn posted a series of tweets stating that it was about time that Bungie talked about the state of PVP in Destiny 2, and that is very true, considering the last concrete update on matters concerning the Crucible was when Stasis was nerfed. In the tweets, Blackburn tried to lay the foundations of what's to come to Destiny 2 when The Witch Queen expansion launches early next year, alongside Season 16, also implying that Season 15 will indeed be the last before all that. While everything that Blackburn said is good news, some fans also see it as too little, too late because the changes are not coming all in a big patch, but rather are going to be diluted across several Seasons.
Bungie's Plans for Destiny 2 PVP
According to Blackburn, the goal is to set standards and expectations as to when Destiny 2 players will be able to see changes and new additions, be it Crucible maps or game modes but to do so, Bungie needs to "open the faucet again." Communication regarding plans for PVP has been scarce but with the tweets from yesterday and the fact that apparently, the showcase for The Witch Queen on August 24 will contain information on the Crucible as well, it's possible that Bungie will indeed devote more resources to this sort of content. There is also the rumor about Bungie working on another PVP-focused game, and that might be the reason why Crucible content has been dwindling for quite some time.
Regardless, Blackburn stated that the plan is to rework the way Trials of Osiris currently operate in Season 15, and then do something of the sort every year to improve areas of Destiny 2's PVP that need help. Then, The Witch Queen expansion is going to feature no new maps in Season 16, but rather two of the eleven vaulted maps will return. This, in particular, is something that disappointed many players because it's going to be the second yearly expansion in a row to not feature new Crucible content right off the bat. Two more Crucible maps are nothing to scoff at right now, but seeing how they were vaulted and will now return makes the whole thing moot in a way, with fans questioning what the point of vaulting content was if then it means more work to put it back into the game.
Season 17 is where the good stuff is coming from, with a brand-new map coming to Destiny 2's Crucible, likely based on one of the new areas that were added with Beyond Light and possibly The Witch Queen. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only new map to come to the game, as Blackburn's tweets cover content up to Season 18 when a Destiny map will be reprised in Destiny 2.
One of the most exciting things is that Blackburn commented on how Bungie is working to find a way to implement Rift in Destiny 2, and also new modes are on their way, even though the company wants to keep the secret for the time being. There wasn't any comment on how weapons will be balanced, and the prospect that only a single all-new map will come to Destiny 2 in a whole year can be frustrating.
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.