As Destiny 2's player count continues to tank, Bungie announces that the next major update is delayed until June and getting a new name

Images from Destiny 2's renegades expansion — (Image credit: Bungie)

With less than two weeks until the planned launch of the next major Destiny 2 update, Shadow and Order, it seemed a little odd that no one outside of Bungie had seen or heard a single thing about it. That silence, coupled with the update's proximity to Marathon—set to launch just two days later—led some fans to expect that a delay was inevitable. Sure enough, it's happened: Bungie has finally confirmed that Shadow and Order has been pushed back to June 9, and for some reason it's being renamed, too.

"This update is being changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed. This update will now launch on June 9, 2026," Bungie wrote on Bluesky. "We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more."

"Through June, we will continue to have routine bug fixes and stability improvements, continued portal modifiers, Guardian Games (March), and the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence (April). In terms of communications, we will be focusing on providing you with updates about our live game content, community activations, and general upkeep through the TWID and our Destiny social channels."

Our next Major Update, Destiny 2: Shadow and Order, is undergoing large revisions and will be delayed. This update is being changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed. This update will now launch on June 9, 2026. (1/5)
— @destinythegame.bungie.net (@destinythegame.bungie.net.bsky.social) 2026-02-18T23:16:43.167Z

Communication has been a real issue for Bungie in the weeks leading up to the delay. Shadow and Order was supposed to launch on March 3, but that became a very big question in January when Bungie announced that Marathon, its troubled extraction shooter (that is now seeing some positive sentiment, to be fair), is coming on March 5. Because of that, a Shadow and Order delay was expected, but for some reason Bungie has stayed stubbornly mum on the matter until now, less than two weeks ahead of the planned Shadow and Order release.

Bungie's promises to expand Tiered Gear and roll out Pantheon 2.0 are welcome—people really liked the original Pantheon raid boss challenge event, I'm told—but the trouble is that June is a long way off, and Destiny 2 needs help right now. PC Gamer brand manager and inveterate Destiny sicko Tim Clark wrote in July 2025 that he's "never known a Destiny 2 expansion with as many problems as Edge of Fate" and expressed concern the game might not survive it.

At this point there's no certainty it will, as the game has continued to flounder. Phil Savage, another PC Gamer Destiny weirdo, noted in October 2025 that Destiny 2 had sunk to "its lowest ever daily peak for Steam concurrent players," and that number has continued to fall off dramatically since then: Right now, SteamDB indicates that just over 11,000 people are playing Destiny 2, a far cry from the audience it used to pull in.

Destiny 2 concurrent player numbers on Steam — (Image credit: SteamDB)

Sony, meanwhile, seems resigned to taking a big hit on its $3.6 billion Bungie buyout: Chief financial officer Lin Tao said in November 2025 that sales and user engagement of Destiny 2 "have not reached the expectations we had at the time of the acquisition of Bungie," and that it has subsequently revised its projections downward and recorded a loss on it. If Destiny 2 continues to struggle, and Marathon doesn't come off the blocks absolutely screaming (and then maintain that pace), Bungie could be facing very serious trouble indeed.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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