Now that Bungie is no longer beholden to Activision, they have been looking at new ways to bring people into the Destiny fold, as well as entice back some of those who have left for other games. Along with a huge new expansion called Shadowkeep that promises to fundamentally change how Destiny 2 plays, Bungie also announced New Light, an entirely new way to start playing Destiny 2.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about New Light, but what we do know will be splashed all over this page for you to peruse at your leisure.
Is New Light a new game?
No. In fact, you could say it's a couple of games made new again. New light is essentially an introduction to the world, mythos, and gameplay of Destiny. It will include all of the Destiny 2 base game, and all of the year one expansion content — Warmind and Curse of Osiris. In fact, it has all of the year one content up to Forsaken.
That's not all though. Because this is aimed at newcomers to Destiny, Bungie has even remastered parts of Destiny 1 to give you even more content. This is an important part of New Light because, to really become invested in being a Guardian, the savior of mankind, God killer, and general badass, you need to understand the game from the very beginning.
New Light starts you off in the Cosmodrome, exactly where you started Destiny 1 and takes you through all the content until you get to the Tower, the last bastion of hope on Earth. From here you can roam the solar system, unlocking new content and powering up your guardian as you go, becoming the champion Destiny needs.
What content is available for New Light?
Everything. All the content available in year one of Destiny 2 as well as all of the strikes, raids, and other endgame content from across the entirety of Destiny 2. So even though you don't get the forsaken storyline — or the Annual Pass story from year 2 — you will get to play the year 2 endgame content, such as the crucible and gambit modes from Forsaken.
This is huge. This means with just New Light you can play with your friends on almost all of the multiplayer content Destiny 2 has to offer and still get some of that sweet backstory. Now, if you have friends who already play Destiny 2, you won't have to play through 120 hours of content and spend $160 just to be able to play Gambit with them. Instead, you will have to pay the huge price of nothing.
Wait, did you say nothing?
That's right, New Light is going to be available for free to anyone on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. No news yet on whether Google's streaming service Stadia will get New Light, but as Bungie is pushing for cross-compatibility — not cross-play but cross save at least — it's likely we will see New Light on there too.
With New Light, Bungie seems to be taking cues from games like Apex Legends, Dauntless and of course, Fortnite. By offering the base game for free and then charging people a smaller fee for seasonal content, Bungie is giving everyone the best chance to play all the amazing content Destiny 2 has to offer.
When can I get New Light?
New Light will be available in September with the launch of Shadowkeep, the latest Bungie expansion. We are unsure if New Light will be compatible with Shadowkeep though we assume it will be. We know you won't have to purchase Forsaken to play Shadowkeep, and that the expansion will come with Season 8 of Destiny 2 for free, so it seems likely that Shadowkeep will work with New Light.
Shadowkeep is also selling at a pretty cheap price for an expansion. At just $35 it is a great way to get Season 8 and some awesome story content to go along with your free game, New Light.
Nightmares are born
Shadowkeep is the start of a whole new chapter for the team at Bungie. expect huge new bosses, new raids, new moves, and oh so many new weapons and armor.
