Earlier this week, Bungie unveiled most of the major features included in Destiny 2’s upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, including a new enemy faction, an exotic class item that allows players to mix and match game-changing perks, and most importantly, a chaotic new subclass called Prismatic that similarly combines previous Light and Dark subclasses. Interestingly, a Reddit user who seemingly leaked the Prismatic class a few months back also made mention of Destiny 3 in their post. Now, the fact that they turned out to be right about the Prismatic class has lent new credence to their sequel claims, throwing fuel on the fires of speculation from a fanbase desperate for a proper follow-up to Bungie’s looter-shooter.
Back in February, a Reddit user apparently leaked the details of the Prismatic class on a weekly discussion thread about Destiny 2 leaks. At the time, they called it “Prism,” but other than the slightly different name, they more or less nailed it, calling it a subclass that “will allow players to mix and match abilities from different subclasses.” One of the specific examples they suggested included “procing devour and rampaging as stormcaller,” which sounds exactly like a hybrid Arc/Void hybrid Warlock that a developer suggested during the showcase.
The bigger deal, and what has currently set the Destiny 2 community alight, is the second half of that user’s statement, where they state that Destiny 3 is in development and that the game will take Prismatic a step further, moving away from subclasses entirely.
According to them, Destiny 3, which is reportedly codenamed “Payback,” has been in the works at Bungie, though they aren’t sure of its current status. Last they heard, it was doing away with subclasses entirely, which isn’t a far-fetched theory considering the realities of Prismatic. Bungie likened it to an “advanced subclass” during its presentation, but the ramifications of multiclassing and the buildcraft options that Prismatic introduces almost feel like they have to be the foundation for a new, deeper system in the future.
Elsewhere, they also claim that “Payback” has been in development in the background since around the time of The Witch Queen expansion in 2022.
Of course, any mention of a potential Destiny 3 has thrown gas on the perpetually burning fire that is the Destiny community. A sequel to Destiny 2 is either the most ridiculous idea in the world or a foregone conclusion, depending on who you talk to. The Destiny franchise has always been a very technically demanding series of games to develop, and countless stories of its protracted and arduous development have come out over the years. Destiny 2, which released in 2017 per Bungie’s agreement with its then-publisher Activision, hasn’t aged as gracefully as some might’ve wished. Iterating on D2 and adding almost yearly expansions has only increased the technical debt of the game, which has caused Bungie to take drastic measures like cutting massive swaths of content in order to keep being able to produce updates for it.
Over the years, these cost-cutting measures for the health of the game have ruffled quite a few feathers, and the belief these days is largely that D2 is this dense, unwieldy thing that’s impossible for new fans to break into and for the developers to keep building atop of. Though the studio has stopped cutting content and is now even adding some of it back, D2’s hardships have led some to call for Bungie to wipe the slate clean and begin again with a new installment like they did in 2017.
However, there are others who are weary of moving onto a new title, especially if it won’t allow them to bring over their old character and their gear. When Destiny 2 launched, it only allowed for characters to carry forward from the previous game, as much of the gear system was reworked and the game’s armory was reset. However, there was a three-year gap between the original Destiny and its sequel. A sequel to D2 wouldn’t arrive until at least the end of the three episodes Bungie has announced will follow The Final Shape, meaning the earliest release someone could hope for would be deep into 2025, nearly eight years into D2’s lifetime. There’s a world of difference between those two jumps.
Bungie, which is now owned by Sony and formally working on at least one other game (Marathon), have spent the last few years pushing off such a drastic move, but it seems likely that the time for a Destiny 2 sequel is almost upon us. If the rumors are to be believed, that might come sooner than we think.