There have been rumblings of a Destiny 2 mobile game for a few years now—the rumours growing in intensity over the last few months, ever since Bungie laid off 220 developers amid speculation of what, exactly, the hell was going on. Those rumours are now reality, as Netease has announced Destiny: Rising—a mobile game that will act as a sort of alt-history prequel to the current Destiny.
Billed as an "epic" free-to-play mobile shooter, Destiny: Rising is set in "an alternate Destiny timeline" during the post-Collapse era. It claims to offer a mix of singleplayer, co-op and multiplayer modes, including some that will be familiar to current Destiny players.
So look, the default response here is scepticism and panic, right? Bungie's recent woes—not least the mass layoffs earlier this year—appear to stem in part from a studio that had stretched itself too thin. A mobile version of Destiny is not what its playerbase wants, and any time spent creating it is going to feel—for a community desperate seeking some stability from the series' developer—like a waste. But actually, Bungie seems to only be tangentially involved in this.
Perhaps because of the reasons above, the press release for Destiny: Rising seems to go to great lengths to tell us this is primarily a Netease joint. "Developed and published by NetEase Games, and officially licensed by Bungie," it reads, positioning the beleaguered Bellevue studio at arms length from this announcement. It's a sentiment further echoed by the trailer. Even the fact that this is billed as an "alternate Destiny timeline" seems to be distancing Rising from the base series. Lore contradictions? Character inconsistencies? Alternate timeline, innit.
Which, honestly, is just as well, because the look of the trailer does not scream "post-Collapse" Earth to me.
It's all vibrant and modern—it looks like a version of the game of today, rather than an exploration of a period that we're told, in lore, is rich with bloodthirsty warlords and bands of humans on the edge of survival, desperately seeking refuge. Admittedly there's a reason Destiny proper has also rarely tackled this period of the game's history—it's altogether darker, more muted, and just generally harder to sell.
As for specifics, Netease has laid out a few details about how it will all work. Players will be able to customise their character—Wolf—but also meet and play as other characters, including some known names like Ikora Rey. Activities include Haven Ops strike missions, no doubt similar to the Vanguard Ops of the main game, and Gauntlet Ops, which the official site calls "raid-like".
As for how this will all affect me, someone who plays Destiny 2, my gut feeling based on everything that's been announced is that it won't. As noted, the announcement seems to highlight that Bungie's involvement here is minimal—likely a good thing given the turmoil at the studio, as well as the work currently happening for next year's expansions. And given what a far cry the setting feels from what we think of as Destiny 2's post-Collapse era, I doubt there'll be any impact here on the lore and story of the main game. Basically, it's not for me, and—if it's not affecting Destiny 2's actual development in any way—that's fine.
Nevertheless, if you've got a particular hankering to shoot purple space magic at some aliens—but now on your phone—you can pre-register interest to try the Destiny: Rising alpha.
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