It hasn’t all been great, but we can safely say that this is a title that we’re all going to miss. The trailer seems to understand that, and there’s a hint of the sadness that sudden goodbyes often bring, underlining all the cool stuff coming on June 9th. Earth is on the mend, and the Guardians must look towards the future. There are still things to do, and new triumphs and rewards to uncover in the Pantheon, where you’re going to be taking on returning Raid Bosses with cool new Distortion abilities that look quite nasty to be on the receiving end of.

Sparrow Racing League is making its return, and you’re going to be racing against your fellow Guardians on some very cool-looking speeders. The future beckons, but whether that includes Destiny 3 is still uncertain. It might have made learning about the game’s last days a tad easier, and perhaps even helped lessen the shock of what might have been the best-kept secret at Bungie. Nevertheless, it’s nearly time to tip our collective hats to a looter shooter that has had a good run, all things considered.

However, Sony quickly caught onto many players trying to take advantage of this, and has updated the PlayStation Store page for Marathon to offer some clarification. An attempt to grab the Deluxe Edition of Marathon for cheaper than even the base game through this method will now warn you that you are only buying the extra goodies that come with the Deluxe Edition, and that the purchase doesn’t include the game itself.

“Purchasing this product will grant access to the Deluxe Edition content only for the duration of the Open Play Week, after which accessing this content will require purchase of the Marathon Standard Edition,” wrote Sony. “The price displayed reflects only the Deluxe Edition content add-ons, not the Standard Edition price.”

According to Mp1st’s report, the PlayStation Store description for Marathon’s Deluxe Edition seemingly also listed the base game as being part of the entire package. This was likely the primary cause of the confusion among players who were trying to buy the title during the Open Play Week.

As one would expect, the Marathon community hasn’t taken too kindly to this move by Sony and Bungie. One player took to social media to note that, “this is exactly why people hate Bungie bro, and I play Marathon every day, what is this s***.”

Discussions about the subject on the Marathon subreddit have seen similar levels of confusion and anger from the community. While some have noted that this was essentially the equivalent of a pricing error, others raised the question of why Bungie didn’t create a separate game client that could be used to access the Open Play Week and not much else.

As for players who may have grabbed the Deluxe Edition during Open Play Week in the hopes of getting a cheap copy of Marathon, if they are no longer interested in picking up the base game, Sony still has its refund options available.

Marathon’s Open Play Week was kicked off on June 2nd across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The title will be available to free until June 9th, beyond which, those interested in continuing their time with the PvPvE extraction shooter will need to buy the game. Interestingly, the Open Play Week also features one of Marathon’s two experimental PvE game modes – Sponsored Survival.

The start of the Open Play Week coincided with Bungie kicking off season 2 of Marathon, which brought with it a new matchmaking system and the new Night Marsh map, which has been described as offering a survival horror experience by the studio.

In a typical match, all Runner crews spawn on the map at the same time (barring any Rooks who can join one in progress). Sponsored Survival takes place on Night Marsh, the new map, but only one crew will start. They’ll have a few minutes to explore and battle the UESC (and other monstrosities) before the Rooks start to join.

You could leave them alone and go about your business, strike up a temporary alliance, gun them down as you please or exfil early. Either way, when 18 minutes have passed, the final exfil will be available. Just in case you’re joining as a Rook and worried about the sheer firepower of the Runner Crew, the latter can only have Sponsored Kits at the start.

What happens if they find better weapons or make up for that with better coordination? Well, you better run fast. Note that all Rooks will immediately be redirected into Sponsored Survival as it’s available, so even if you’re not a new player, you might as well take the opportunity to learn the intricacies of Night Marsh.

Once again, this is only the first PvE mode – the second arrives later in Season 2 and won’t have PvP at all. It’s all experimental, so whether they’re permanent additions to the game or not remains to be seen.

Marathon Season 2: NIGHTFALL goes live at the same time as the Open Play Week for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for what you should know before jumping in.

While the report notes that the decision to end support for Destiny 2 was made earlier this year, discussions started getting more serious following the release of Renegades owing to the expansion’s poor commercial performance. A major subject was whether Bungie would give up on its more recent two-expansion model in favor of switching to its older model, where it would release a single, larger expansion that would then be supported with year-long updates.

Destiny 3 was also discussed, and there don’t seem to be any indications that Bungie is keen on revisiting the franchise, at least for now. Another interesting idea was for a major relaunch, dubbed Destiny Infinity. While it wouldn’t have been a full-fledged sequel, the report indicates that it would have been closer in its release cadence to older Destiny and Destiny 2 expansions.

Interestingly, aside from its own recent commercial downturn, Destiny‘s demise was seemingly further helped along by Marathon not doing well right out of the gate. One source told the publication, “If [Marathon] made a billion dollars, would Destiny 2 have a chance to continue? Sure, maybe.”

It doesn’t look like players will have much say in Bungie potentially reprioritizing Destiny 2 either, with the report noting that “neither the petition nor the planned login surge on the 9th has any chance of reversing the decision or greenlighting Destiny 3.” As for now, Bungie is facing pressure to succeed with Marathon, and Season 2 will seemingly be a major part of this.

Bungie had announced earlier this month that June 9th will mark the release of Destiny 2‘s final content update. In a statement, the studio said that “it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time of our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.” While active development on the shooter is coming to an end, Bungie has noted that its servers will continue to live on.

Interestingly, another report noted that, when Bungie made its announcement to stop supporting Destiny 2, many of the developers at the studio were also caught off guard. At the time, work was reportedly underway for a new expansion that was seemingly titled Shattered Cycle. Employees who already knew about the decision described themselves feeling isolated, and “begged” studio leadership to let the other developers know.

The last major expansion for Destiny 2 was Renegades, which was quite poorly received both critically and commercially. In our review, we gave it a score of 6 out of 10, noting that despite its intriguing use of Star Wars themes and references, the same aspects often felt overtly heavy-handed. The expansion also suffered from repetitive objectives in the Lawless Frontier missions, and its new faction being little more than a new set of vendors.

In a new blog post, it noted that Night Marsh is “built to be slower-paced than Day Marsh and plays more like a survival horror experience, with slightly fewer players and extra environmental challenges with navigating the darkness and threats within.”

The first and most obvious challenge is the lack of visibility. The new Flashlights, Vector Rounds, which leave pools of light on impact (and even illuminate enemies) and Vector Grenades for pinging nearby threats help in that regard. You also get Darksight scopes, which will briefly highlight the world when aiming down sights. It creates a real sense of tension, as you stop to survey your surroundings, keep moving, and repeat.

And if all that fails, Signal Flares are on hand. They’ll alert others to your location, but in terms of lighting up the sky, there are few better options.

Bungie has spoken quite a bit about increased security from the UESC, but what does that mean? Simply put, you’ll need to kill bots to obtain Certs, which can hack into Network Towers for the loot within. But they’re also used for activating exfiltration, so be careful not to let hubris and greed be your own demise.

As for those strange creatures that have seemingly been running around…well, if you’re feeling lucky, take those Certs to Complex Control’s upper floors, open the doors and find out first-hand. Survive, and you just might earn some “powerful loot.”

Of course, to ensure the player base isn’t split much between the new Duos queue and upcoming experimental PvE modes, Bungie will cycle the day and night versions of Dire Marsh every 90 minutes. The first week of the season, which is also when Marathon will be free to play across all platforms, will see both available round the clock. As for Contracts, keep an eye out for MIDA and Traxus – they may have some tasks that require braving the dark.

Marathon Season 2: NIGHTFALL kicks off on June 2nd. Stay tuned for more details and insights from the development team in the meantime.

It starts with what seems to be the new Runner Shell, the Sentinel, and their crew entering Night Marsh, the nighttime version of Dire Marsh. The UESC’s troops seem to be on much higher alert – a fact gleaned from what appear to be the flashbacks of previously downed Shells. Some appear to have been cornered by strange beings. Others are hunted and brutally murdered by other Runners.

It’s not long before the Sentinel is left alone in the present, firing at the shadows as unknown creatures scamper about. Suffice it to say that it doesn’t survive, though death seemingly hasn’t provided an escape either. Are players dealing with the mutated husks of former Shells? Or something else?

A full reveal is coming later this week and hopefully we’ll learn more about the Cradle, a gameplay system that grants more control over one’s Runner stats, and that new weapon that the Sentinel is wielding. Of course, Bungie has even more in store, including two new experimental PvE modes, more Vault Space, and so on. Head here for all the details.

Forbes’ Paul Tassi added to this with new details from his own sources. It seems the decision to stop supporting Destiny 2 was unknown to most of the studio until the actual announcement. As such, the team continued working on future content, including an alleged expansion called Shattered Cycle. Those who were knowledgeable about the decision reportedly felt isolated and “begged” the higher-ups to let more of the studio know about it.

Regarding the layoffs, a town hall meeting was apparently held that saw leadership questioned multiple times about the same. There was no answer, but despite being “significant,” they’re apparently not “immediately imminent,” per Tassi. In the meantime, you probably shouldn’t expect a Destiny 3 announcement any time soon.

Why didn’t it begin development immediately after The Final Shape? Because, as Schreier noted on Twitter, “The answer (as it usually is) is how much money it would take.” With how Sony’s live-service initiative has fared over the past several years, it’s understandably not going to make that investment any time soon.

This doesn’t mean Bungie is completely abandoning the IP, though – it’s apparently pitching other titles that use it without being a “full sequel.” What shape that will take remains to be seen, but as of now, Destiny, as fans know it, is effectively over.

Unfortunately, any hopes for Destiny 3 might be shelved for the time being. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier spoke to “people familiar with the studio’s plans” who claimed that the sequel isn’t planned for immediate production. Furthermore, it’s planning to lay off a “significant number” of employees. How many exactly remains unknown.

Right now, pitching new titles (including new entries in the Destiny franchise) is underway, but nothing has been greenlit. Schreier noted that Bungie is one of the “more expensive studios to operate,” both due to its Seattle location and its experienced staff. While you may think Sony would try to preserve as many as possible, it likely mandated the layoffs to counteract the studio’s hefty impairment losses.

And if it wasn’t obvious already, especially after the delay to Destiny 2’s Shadow and Order Update (which has since been renamed to Monument of Triumph), it seems some prior Destiny staff are now working on Marathon. Not that the extraction shooter has been doing huge numbers, but Sony is hopeful and committed to it. For now.

“For almost twelve years, we have had the joy and honor to explore the Destiny universe with you all. Through all the ups and downs, surprises and triumphs, building Destiny alongside our players has been a monumental privilege. While our love for Destiny 2 has not changed, it has become clear that after The Final Shape, we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.”

What it essentially means is that “active development” on the title is ending. It will remain playable, just like the original Destiny, but you shouldn’t expect any significant new additions (or meaningful bug fixes, by the looks of it). What’s next for the studio? A “new beginning” as it begins “work incubating our next games.”

“We’re proud of Destiny 2, the places it took us, and the legacy it has created. Because of you all, our universe is vast, built on years of shared stories, adventures, and victories. From the Cosmodrome to the Pale Heart to the Lawless Frontier, we have forged lifelong memories and friendships with you all.

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made that journey with us. From the deepest part of our hearts, thank you, and we’ll see you in the stars.”

While it may come as a shock for some, it’s also somewhat expected after The Final Shape. Despite strong critical acclaim, the expansion – which marked the end of the decade-long Light and Darkness Saga – reportedly sold less than the more maligned Lightfall.

Bungie would face layoffs and change its content strategy to accommodate two yearly expansions, while shifting focus towards a new narrative about The Nine. The Edge of Fate received some praise for the same, but many of its other additions, including the Portal, gear tiers, Matterspark and whatnot, faced extensive backlash.

Renegades was a better effort, especially with its introduction of the Praxic Blade and better story missions, but it failed to really push the looter shooter to new horizons. Whether this announcement means Bungie is now focusing on Destiny 3 remains to be seen. But for now, it’s good night and good luck to those that remain.

In a lengthy post about learnings and plans for the extraction shooter, Bungie revealed it will introduce two new modes. The first debuts at the season’s start and focuses on PvE with a “light” PvP touch. The second arrives in the middle/latter half and is PvE-only.

Less a pivot than “more novel ways to play,” the developer wants players to have more options. “This means new ways to play that accommodate different friend groups, moods, and time availability to allow you to experience the thrilling survival of Tau Ceti in the way that fits your needs.”

Of course, the modes will be available beyond Season 2, albeit in experimental form, and Bungie will also try out a PvP-only mode. And who knows? They could become “part of the core game loop or permanent new ways to play.” You can also expect the debut of Duos for all players, a new matchmaking system to “find better quality matches with more flex for higher-end players,” and the old Destiny classic: An increase in Vault size.

The team is still keeping plans for the future under wraps, but it confirmed a new zone leaning into “more alien elements and mind warping debuffs” alongside “New enemies from Tau Ceti and beyond, big and small alike.” You can also expect more battery-type weapons and new exfiltration methods that “create interesting tradeoffs between how much loot you carry versus how safe they are.”

As always, we’ll need to wait for more details, but Bungie is clearly committed to making Marathon work. Stay tuned for further updates, including Season 2’s full reveal on May 25th, and check out our review for the base game here.