Bungie explains what happens to last-gen Destiny players after the release of Rise of Iron, the first expansion that will not support the PS3 or Xbox 360.

When Bungie announced plans to keep Destiny going for up to 10 years, gamers knew their days on last-gen were numbered. Yes, Destiny 1 was to be a cross-gen experience, but most figured that eventually the franchise would cut out the PS3 and Xbox 360. Now, with the release of the Rise of Iron expansion in fall, Destiny is doing just that: leaving the old behind.

But, that doesn’t mean that last-gen Destiny players will be completely left in the dust. As Bungie reveals in its ‘This Week at Bungie’ post, Destiny players will still be able to progress in their favorite RPG franchise, albeit on a new path. Whereas before, progress was shared across the same platform family, now the two will be split.

In the most basic terms, this news means that Destiny players will no longer be able to upgrade seamlessly from PS3 to PS4 or Xbox 360 to Xbox One and carry over all of their progression. Quests they complete and gear they earn on one platform will be unique to that platform.

Bungie does say that systems will be put in place to allow players to upgrade their console and transfer their character over, but as of right now the paths are planning to split. And if those players do want to experience the Rise of Iron content like the new raid, Strike, and story, they will have to upgrade.

Unfortunately, now is the worst possible time to consider a console upgrade, as both Sony and Microsoft are rumored to be working on upgraded versions of their current-gen consoles. So, assuming that neither the PS4 Neo nor the Xbox Scorpio release before November 2016 – some rumors have them releasing in 2017 – that means these Destiny fans are faced with a tough choice. Either they can upgrade in time for Destiny: Rise of Iron or they can wait and get a more powerful console but miss out on the launch of the next expansion.

The good news is that Bungie will still likely have something for PS3 and Xbox 360 players in Year 3, just not a new expansion. If the studio follows past history then it’s safe to assume that Rise of Iron will be preceded by a massive Year 3 update, which should tweak and change some of the game’s core systems. Obviously, there’s no guarantee that this will be a cross-gen update, but it’s hard to imagine Bungie would not improve the old-gen versions in some capacity.

As Bungie mentions, the developers will have more to say on the matter of these splitting paths and what players can do to carry their progress over in the coming weeks and months. But first up is E3 2016, where Bungie is expected to show off more of Destiny: Rise of Iron, perhaps even unveil some gameplay.

Destiny: Rise of Iron releases September 20, 2016 for PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie