Destiny 2 Shadowkeep's October delay is actually welcomed

Bungie is delaying its new horror-themed Destiny 2 expansion to October, where it can best be enjoyed during the hallowed month.

Right now Bungie has a lot on its plate. Not only is it crafting Shadowkeep, a big new expansion taking us back to the haunted depths of the moon, but it's also working on a free-to-play version of Destiny 2. Dubbed New Light, the F2P version includes the base game and two lesser expansions (Curse of Osiris and Warmind), plus a handful of Forsaken content (the Forsaken story arc, raids, dungeons, and exotic quests aren't in). It's a pretty big deal. It'll also have cross-saves on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

To get all of these spinning plates to land safely without crashing, Bungie decided to delay Shadowkeep and New Light into the year's spookiest month. Both the expansion and F2P version will now launch on October 1 instead of their original September 17 date. This gives the studio enough time to refine the experiences, which isn't something they're necessarily used to.

"As we get closer and closer to serving up Shadowkeep and New Light, it has become increasingly clear to us that our releases for this Fall would benefit from a bit more time in the oven," Destiny 2's Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy said in a recent update.

"Being independent means that the future of Destiny 2 is entirely on our team. It also means that we're agile enough to choose to do what's best for the game and our players, even if it's the hard choice."

Read Also: Shadowkeep may be Destiny 2's last expansion

Now freed from Activision's thrall, Bungie is free to set its own schedule rather than rush content out to meet deadlines or engagement targets.

The company is not only laying out the future of the Destiny franchise, likely with Destiny 3 on the way and possibly a new IP, but it's continually handling the present timeline with new fresh content drops and updates.

New Light is a new beginning for Destiny as a whole and represents a turning point for the franchise and Bungie. Activision's meddling won't show up in the game any more, and Bungie is opening up the floodgates with new MMORPG-style mechanics. Now without the might and meddling of Activision behind it, Bungie gets to sink or swim on its own.

Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 on PS4, Xbox One and PC via Steam for $35.

Features:

• New Missions & Quests
• New Destination & Dungeon
• New Armor and Gear to Earn
• An All New Raid
• Season Pass for Season of the Undying*
• And more

A NEW CHAPTER.

As the heroes of the last safe city turned their attention to frontiers beyond the protection of the Vanguard, new Nightmares have emerged from the shadows of our long-forgotten Moon.

Called forth by the haunting visions from her tormented past, Eris Morn has returned and unleashed something that once slumbered beneath the lunar surface - a long dormant power even she cannot control.

Return to the Moon. Journey deep into a mysterious enemy citadel. Help Eris slay these nightmares before they reach out beyond the Moon to cast humanity back into an age of darkness.