Rumored to have been in development for years in or around an increasingly fractured Bungie, Destiny: Rising has been a poorly kept secret for the last couple of months. But now it’s official, with NetEase announcing the mobile game today, and the first close alpha beginning next month.
Why NetEase and not Bungie? Because again, the rumors have pointed toward it being the Chinese company which is largely responsible for Destiny’s mobile incarnation, rather than Bungie themselves. This is rather starkly born out by the announcement video, which includes Bungie lead producer Tritia Medrano saying, “We here at Bungie are so excited that NetEase has invited us to join them as they announce their brand new mobile game…”
It was NetEase, of course, who also co-developed Diablo Immortal with Blizzard.
Bungie’s role appears to have been to “support” NetEase, which backs up rumors that suggested the developer had backed off the project a few years back. The hostage video-style appearances of Bungie employees seems like an effort to appease the inevitable backlash from fans.
Very similar in conceit to Destiny 2 on consoles and PC, Rising will be a third-person looter shooter, with all the PvP, strikes and storyline you’d expect, although it’s to be set in a rather convenient “alternate Destiny timeline,” and before the events of the previous games.
The game’s setting puts it before the establishment of hunters, titans and warlocks, so the game’s Lightbearers will have a whole new set of class archetypes. It’ll also include recognisable modes—missions, strikes, and six-player PVE—but also add new modes of its own. We don’t yet know what they are, but boy will they be “immersive.”
Perhaps the most telling line of all, that speaks to the bizarre nature of a Bungie-owned franchise being made by a totally different developer, comes when NetEase’s senior narrative designer, Caroline Wan, explains the relationship. “We’re very grateful to Bungie for their amazing support,” she begins, making me wonder if there had been a depth of collaboration. She continues, “granting us the creative freedom to develop and nurture our own vision.” Oh.
And you can bet it’ll be absolutely riddled with microtransactions. Although obviously nothing about these has been mentioned.
Diablo Immortal has courted no small amount of controversy with its incessant nags that you spend your way to glory. Which is all the more frustrating, given it’s a really good game underneath all that, and remains one even if you never pay a penny. Although pay pennies people did, the “free” game making an eye-watering $50 million in its first month. After its first year, it was reported to have racked up $525 million. It’s inconceivable that a similar model won’t be in place for Destiny Rising, given no matter how unpopular it will be with fans, the money will still pour in.
The game is described as “quite early in our development phase,” but closed alpha tests will start on November 1.