All The Destiny 3 Rumors And Spoilers Leaked So Far
It's been a tumultuous ride since Destiny 2 launched in September 2017. And though the game has largely addressed most of its major issues, there are some things that a simple patch won't fix. Some features fans want that can't be quickly assembled by a live service team. Things like new worlds. New enemies. New endgame activities. The kinds of additions that don't come as part of a smaller content drop but, instead, herald a new major release.
Fans feel they've explored every nook and cranny of the Destiny 2 universe as it exists today. And so, quite naturally, they've started asking questions about where the franchise is headed. Bungie hasn't really answered, per se. But the studio hasn't had to. Other sources have been doing it for them.
A healthy amount of leaks about Destiny 3 have made their way online — most of them from the since-vanished AnonTheNine — detailing some of what players can expect when the game ships. When that is, we don't know. And how much will change in between now and when Destiny 3 sees the light of day, we can't predict. But for now, we've gathered everything we've heard about Destiny 3 below, giving you a glimpse into what the future might have in store for Bungie's third Destiny release.
Enjoy.
We're probably not getting Destiny 3 in 2019
The Destiny series isn't exactly known for hitting deadlines. It's why Destiny 2 came out a year late, releasing three years after the first Destiny instead of the originally agreed upon two. And it's some of what caused a rift between Bungie and Activision, leading the two companies to ultimately call off their partnership early in 2019.
That two-year release cycle is likely out the window, according to analysts, who are predicting that Destiny 2 will continue on for one more year. That means we won't see Destiny 3 until sometime in 2020.
What could be the cause for Destiny 3 getting pushed out another year? For starters, Bungie is losing support from some of Activision's development houses. Teams from Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios contributed significantly to Destiny 2 and its various content drops, but now that Bungie has split from Activision, they won't be around. And Bungie has to get its publishing ducks in a row, too. Whether releasing Halo or Destiny, Bungie has always had a major publisher to lean on. Now the studio finds itself poised to handle that responsibility itself, on top of supporting a major live service game. It can't be easy.
It'll be interesting to see how Destiny 3 differs from past Destiny titles now that Activision is out of the picture. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer than we'd hoped.
There could be some new places to explore
There isn't much precedent to draw on, but Destiny 2 brought us a few new worlds that didn't exist in the first Destiny. Based on that, it wouldn't be crazy to assume that Destiny 3 will also have a few new locations. If the Destiny community's most prolific leakers are accurate, it appears that will indeed be the case.
Destiny 3 is purportedly taking us to Old Chicago on Earth, as well as Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. And we'll be visiting an old location from Destiny: Venus, home to the Ishtar Academy and the Vault of Glass.
Old Chicago, believe it or not, isn't a place totally foreign to the team at Bungie. The location actually showed up in early concept art for the first Destiny, and is mentioned in lore for the Graviton Lance exotic pulse rifle. Europa also holds significance in the Destiny universe, in a Grimoire card that ponders the origins of the mysterious beings known as The Nine.
And if you played Destiny, you're quite familiar with Venus. We explored many regions of the planet and conquered its toughest enemies years ago. But it's entirely possible we have some unfinished business that will take us back to where we first met the Exo Stranger.
What that business is, however, is unclear.
We might finally get a new enemy faction
Since the first Destiny launched back in 2014, the enemy races in the game have largely remained the same. There are the Fallen, scavenging the system in hopes of challenging humanity for the Traveler. There are the Hive, who've existed for millennia, conquering almost every civilization they've encountered. There are the Cabal, a race built on military superiority. And there are the Vex, an advanced robot race capable of traveling freely through time.
Outside of those many enemy types, we've not gotten anything new and exciting. But leakers claim that Destiny 3 will change that.
The arrival of Destiny 3 will also introduce us to a new race called the Veil, if these leaks prove accurate. They're described as "astrodemons," and it's believed they have "dark greenish skin, sharp claws" and a smell reminiscent of "wet earth." These are presumably the inhabitants of those pyramid ships we've been seeing in Destiny cutscenes, and are the most direct manifestation of the Darkness — which means they'll be incredibly powerful.
We've been given the Taken, which are reskins of existing enemies. And we've been given the Scorn, which are tweaked versions of Fallen and Hive enemies. If Destiny 3 can introduce an enemy race we've never seen before, forcing us to adapt to a whole new style of combat, it'll make the game instantly more refreshing.
Destiny 3's story could be a real showdown
And what's a new enemy race without a story to tell us all about them? We've learned a lot over the years about those we're fighting. We've picked up on the motivations of the Fallen. Uncovered the deepest, darkest secrets of the Hive. Tested our might against and allied with the ousted emperor of the Cabal. And somehow managed to get ahead of time-traveling Vex in their quest for domination.
The story of Destiny 3, however, will supposedly focus on the Veil. And it'll be a story we're already a bit familiar with, because it won't be the first time humanity has encountered this enemy.
During the Collapse — the event in which much of humanity was wiped out — the Traveler pushed back the Darkness and its agents. It was during this push that the Veil's god was killed, and ever since, the Veil have been biding their time, waiting for the Traveler to reawaken. At the end of Destiny 2's campaign, we saw the Traveler spark back to life, letting out a blast of Light that crossed the universe. And we saw that Light reach the Veil's pyramid ships, causing them to power back up and start moving.
If the leaks on Destiny 3's story are true, those Veil ships are on their way to Earth, with hopes that they can use the Traveler to resurrect their dead god. And that's going to mean war with the Guardians.
We can't wait.
Endgame locations might be sticking around
The concept of a devoted endgame location initially came in Destiny 2. In the first year of that title, the Leviathan served as the main hub for endgame activities, housing three different raids inside Emperor Calus' sprawling ship. By the time Destiny 2: Forsaken came around, the idea was slightly altered. The Awoken's Dreaming City served as the endgame location there and not only included the expansion's raid, but a whole space full of typical planet activities — not to mention the game's first dungeon, the Shattered Throne.
According to leakers, a Veil pyramid ship will serve as the endgame location in Destiny 3. And that means we could have a whole lot of secrets in store.
If you remember the Dreadnaught from Destiny: The Taken King, you know that there are plenty of ways to make a massive, mysterious ship worth exploring. And now that the Dreaming City has expanded upon what an endgame location can be, there's even more potential for this pyramid ship to challenge us in new and exciting ways. This will be the "flagship" of the Darkness' most direct agents, who will, quite possibly, be the most powerful enemies we've ever faced.
You just know that ship is going to have some incredible loot on it.
Guardians could wield Darkness powers
Destiny lore is rife with tales of dark Guardians. Names like Dredgen Yor, for instance, a Guardian who succumbed to the whispers of the Darkness. Later Guardians took up his name, joining up with the Shadows of Yor to emulate their long-gone hero. You may even be familiar with one of them: the man formerly known as Dredgen Hope, who now calls himself the Drifter.
Guardians have always been susceptible to corruption. It's why you're warned against using the Thorn hand cannon, which consumes Light. In Destiny 3, however, you may be able to give some of or all of yourself to the Darkness. And that's a place the series has never gone before.
"Darkness-based abilities" are coming to Destiny 3, if the leaks hold true, and that could mean any number of things. You could become a full-on agent of the Darkness, abandoning the Traveler and the humans you've been charged to protect. Or you could remain a Guardian of the Light, taking on Darkness powers to combat those utilized by your enemies. Destiny 3 could introduce meaningful factions, for once, pitting Guardians against one another not just for pride points, but in a life-or-death struggle. Or the game could keep all Guardians on the straight and narrow, warning us of the dangers associated with the Darkness and its power.
We won't know for sure until we get closer to Destiny 3's release.
There could be public PvPvE areas
Shared spaces have been a staple of every Destiny release since the first. You can transmat yourself to a planet's surface, look around, and instantly see some other Guardians. You can't fight these Guardians here. You can't kill them. They're allies. And once upon a time, unless you were participating in the Crucible – Destiny's dedicated PvP mode — you could never murder another Guardian.
That is, until Destiny 2: Forsaken launched, bringing Gambit along with it. It introduced the game's first PvPvE mode, and in terms of Destiny 3, it might have been readying us for the more brutal world ahead.
Destiny 3 is said to have "open world PvPvE areas," which would be a dramatic shift in the way the Destiny series currently operates. It lends a little credence to the idea that there might be a split on the horizon, putting the Traveler's Guardians on one side and the Darkness' Guardians on the other. And it means that wandering the universe as a Guardian on either side will no longer be safe.
It's thought that the Drifter runs Gambit in order to prepare Guardians for the coming war, to teach them to wield motes of Darkness as weapons. It's also possible he knows some will be corrupted along the way, that when the fight against the Darkness begins, we won't know who is friend and who is foe.
The solution, it seems, is to trust no one — just like the Drifter.
Destiny 3 could have more RPG elements and a higher difficulty
Destiny 2 was lambasted heavily at launch for making its experience more mainstream. Gone were the heavily customizable subclass trees players had grown used to. Done away with were the random rolls on weapons and armor. The Crucible was a shell of its former self, watered down with loadout changes that forced players to use two primary weapons. And leveling up was a trivial task, accomplished not by completing difficult activities but by simply playing.
Destiny 2: Forsaken righted many of these wrongs, bringing back some of the Destiny aspects that fans were craving. And leaks suggest that Destiny 3 will cater even more to its most hardcore players. These leaks aren't entirely specific, stating only that Destiny 3 will "focus on how the hardcore community of the franchise will play," and that it will "provide more RPG elements." And they do claim that the game will be "much more difficult" than what we've seen so far, setting up a scenario in which a player's customizations can help them get an edge in tough encounters. But we're not sure what shape these changes will take — only that they're supposedly coming, and that Bungie has heard the complaints of the Destiny community loud and clear.
Chris Barrett was reportedly tapped to direct Destiny 3
Destiny fans have been troubled recently by what seems like an exodus of talent from Bungie. In a one-month span alone, Bungie lost four key players related to the Destiny franchise: weapons man Jon Weisnewski, sandbox design lead Josh Hamrick, narrative lead Jill Scharr, and raid lead Joe Blackburn. That's an awful lot of of people leaving in such a short amount of time, and it may leave you wondering who will be around by the time Destiny 3 ships.
We can say with certainty that, for now, Chris Barrett still resides at Bungie HQ. Even better: he's apparently the game director for Destiny 3.
Why is this a big deal? Barrett has been a mainstay at Bungie, having started there all the way back in 1999. He's had deep involvement with almost every one of the studio's games, from Myth 2 to Halo to Destiny. And more recently, he served as the art director for Destiny, and the game director for both Destiny: Rise of Iron and Destiny 2. He's been a steady hand at the wheel throughout Destiny's existence, listening to fans to ensure they were heard when Destiny 2 didn't meet their expectations. And he has some pretty solid help.
Destiny 2 co-director Luke Smith has what's called "a big role" in Destiny 3, and that should assuage some fans' concerns, too. Smith took the lead on Destiny's Vault of Glass raid as well as Destiny: The Taken King, so between the two — and despite all of the departures – Destiny 3 should be in good hands.