Rumor: Destiny 3 is in the works, will be more 'hardcore' than Destiny 2

Noted Destiny leaker AnonTheNine has dropped word on Reddit that Bungie has begun work on Destiny 3. The new game will take Guardians to Europa, the moon of Jupiter that's previously been seen in Destiny concept art, and will put a greater focus on RPG elements and "hardcore" play than the previous game.

The leaking began late last week, when a member of the Destiny subreddit said that a "solid base version" of Destiny 3 should already be operational. "Nope. The development is starting right now," AnonTheNine wrote. "Chris Barrett game director. Luke Smith still there in a big role."

A couple of days later they went all-in, posting a photo of Europa in with the words, "Can't wait." When asked for an explanation, they replied simply, "D3."

Guardians in Destiny 3 will have the ability to use Darkness—basically the opposite of the Light that powers their magical hijinks—and at least some open world areas will feature PvPvE combat, according to the leak. But AnonTheNine clarified that it won't be like the Dark Zone in Ubisoft's The Division, describing it as "more about it like fight for a territory, where PvP its there for a reason and not for griefing the heck out of people."

They also dug down a bit on how Destiny 3 will be aimed at a very different audience than Destiny 2. "D2 vanilla was [Bungie's] idea from beginning. The 'reboot' didnt change that, the game was born to be for casuals," they wrote. "If D3 will really have the idea they want to implement, trust me, a lot of Guardians who play 2 hours per week will abandon the game. They are going balls out with the rpg stuff."

"Just know that D3 will be even more 'hardcore-y' than Forsaken. And finally they're going to push the rpg side of the game."

All of this is single-source and completely unverified, but AnonTheNine has real credibility as a leaker: They previously leaked new locations and nine new subclasses added to Destiny 2 in the Forsaken expansion, and also said that the Thunderlord exotic machine gun from Destiny would return to Destiny 2 in the Festival of the Lost event, which dataminers have since determined to be correct.

TOPICS

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.