Destiny 2 to move to Steam, shift to free-to-play model starting with Shadowkeep

Destiny 2 will be moving to Steam from Activision’s Battle.net starting with its next major expansion, Shadowkeep, while also shifting to a free-to-play model for the shooter’s base game.

Shadowkeep, which will take players to the moon once it launches on September 17, is the first Destiny 2 expansion since Bungie ended its partnership with publisher Activision in January. The game is among the launch titles of Google Stadia, with cross-save functionality between the cloud gaming platform, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Destiny 2 will be jumping to Steam as soon as Shadowkeep is rolled out, with current PC players to be able to easily transfer all their progress from the current Battle.net client at no cost. Bungie said that it will provide more details regarding the transition later this summer.

Another major change coming to Destiny 2 is that its base game will be rebranded as Destiny 2: New Light, as it goes free-to-play alongside the Shadowkeep release. The free version will include all year one missions and content, such as the co-op dungeons and player-vs-player Crucible modes, to provide newcomers to the game with a new entry point.

Shadowkeep will be a standalone expansion, which means that Destiny 2 players will only need the base game if they want to purchase it. They will not need to have bought the previous expansions, namely Curse of Osiris, Warmind, and Forsaken, to enjoy Shadowkeep. Moving forward, Bungie will allow players to choose the updates that they want to buy, instead of requiring them to commit to an annual pass.

Shadowkeep will be sold for $35, with every purchase to include the first season of new content following the release of the expansion. Bungie has currently bundled all previously released Destiny 2 content, which includes the base game, all expansions, and the annual pass, at a reduced price of $40, so players who would like to jump in will be able to do so at a low cost.

The announcements on the future of Destiny 2 comes just as E3 2019 kicks off. Gamers are looking forward to a bevy of new reveals, including Gears 5, Halo Infinite, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Doom Eternal, Borderlands 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs Legion, and many more.