Evidence of a potential plan to add a subscription service to Destiny 2 has been discovered by dataminers. Bungie is currently hard at work on Destiny 2's next major expansion, Lightfall, which releases on February 28, 2023. Much of Lightfall has already been detailed by Bungie, so if a subscription service was planned it would likely have already been announced. But it's more than possible that such a service was considered for Destiny 2 at one point, or could be yet.
Destiny 2 is already a heavily monetized game. Bungie has proven to be one of the industry's leaders with regard to monetizing live service experiences. The Destiny 2 base game is now free-to-play, but its expansions remain a premium purchase. There are also now Annual Passes, which includes seasonal content including new weapons, armor, and a diverse range of playable endgame content. There's also a premium Destiny 2 currency, Silver, which can be spent on cosmetics and item bundles. It has also sold a Dungeon Pass and 30th Anniversary Pack with even more content. Suffice to say, Bungie adding even more monetization is more than believable.
According to a report from The Game Post, dataminers from the D2 Datamines Discord server discovered evidence of plans for a Destiny 2 premium subscription. Files reference subscription purchases for one, three, six, and 12-month subscriptions. It should be noted that the subscriptions are directly tied to Lightfall.
There are also some text descriptions attached to the files that add a bit of extra context. One product is listed as including "Lightfall, two new dungeons and raids, 1 month of premium content in Destiny 2 Year 6," and other assorted DLC bonuses. Another description asks players if they want to, "Enhance your journey as a New Light with a premium subscription to Destiny 2." At the very least, it can be assumed the subscription was intended to be added on top of purchases like Lightfall and other expansions.
While there's no indication that Bungie is going through with adding a subscription service to Destiny 2 at the moment, it's easy to imagine it happening. Subscriptions aren't just reserved for games like World of Warcraft anymore. Fortnite has a subscription named the Fortnite Crew offering cosmetics and currency, just as an example. It's easy to imagine Bungie seeing a subscription as another opportunity to increase profits.
What exactly Bungie would offer as part of a Destiny 2 subscription isn't clear. It could offer players a deal on Silver and other cosmetics, or it could combine content offerings like the Dungeon Pass and the Season Pass into a subscription. It's safe to assume it won't bundle everything it releases into a subscription akin to World of Warcraft, though. Time will tell what Bungie ultimately decides to do.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: TheGamePost
