Although it has only been a single day since the formal release of Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, signs are pointing towards a successful launch that will lead to positive long-term prospects for the game. The hype that built around the release of the newest expansion was different from new content releases before it, specifically with how developer Bungie leaned hard into creating an attractive and in-depth free-to-play version of its game. This may have saved the game from doom.
The launch that occurred on October 1 began well enough, but was soon marred with problems that eventually required the servers for both Destiny and Destiny 2 to be taken offline for a while. The upside to this was that the server issues were, as far as we know, caused by an overwhelming and unexpected number of users attempting to play the new expansion. If ever there was a fantastic reason to see the entire server-side process go down in flames for a few hours, smashing expected levels of user activity is it.
A Declining Playerbase
It has been no secret that Destiny 2 had been seeing a constant decline in its player base over the past year. A mere year ago signs were pointing to further losses as players were simply not coming back with each no content release. This was evident in the numbers put out during investor calls with Activision, when they were partnered with Bungie, and in other ways such as viewing the weekly “trials report”. These show roughly how many people logged on to attempt a new trial after each update, and the numbers were always grim. Something needed to change, and the answer seems to lie in New Light, the free-to-play version of the game.
Free-To-Play Reversed The Trend
The first time that Bungie moved to embrace some free-to-play users occurred with it was still partnered with Activision and used the Battle.net launcher to make the client available for download. From November 2-18, 2018, the base game became free for all users. This was met with praise from users and was certainly useful in bringing in some players.
New Light is an even more aggressive shift towards providing players with a fantastic free-to-play experience. Players now have access to a significant portion of the game’s content and could spend months playing without seeing everything. Their Power Levels will begin at the same point as those players who have purchased the new Shadowkeep expansion, and players have the freedom to either go into story-related content from the beginning or to dive into any of the other game’s modes.
By offering all players the chance to experience the core Destiny 2 experience with their friends for free, Bungie looks to grow its user base and keep those players in the long-term in its new living world with an evolving story, which they look to expand upon for at least the next five years. Players will not need to make any purchases until they decided that they want to acquire everything new in the game, including certain exotic weapons, and new quest lines within Shadowkeep.
Now is a great time to dive into Destiny 2, do get in there and have some fun!
Source: Bungie.net