Bungie just announced that they're pairing the Annual pass to the purchase of Destiny 2 - Forsaken (And no, Forsaken and year 2 Annual pass will not be part of the free game releasing in October).
PC orders for this collection will start on October 1st on steam.
So… the complete collection was selling for a discounted price of ~AU$60 for the last two months, and I decided to let it slide.
This will feel like a kick in the teeth to anyone who jumped on that deal.
Which parts are going free in October?
Destiny 2 New Light includes the base game and 2 DLC - Curse of Osiris(6/10) and Warmind(7/10). This is the free content everyone has access too in October. You can visit most areas in this version with certain activities locked behind a purchase wall
Forsaken is a massive expansion that includes a tonne of new content(good story arc, raid, dungeon, two massive areas, new strikes, tougher missions, lots of gear, IMO its the best content in Destiny, highly recommended (9/10), this was 70 AUD at launch.
The annual pass includes 3 more small content drops that are basically additional end game activities to collect more gear/weapons, this includes a 3 wave forge activity where you throw orbs into a forge to obtain specific gear (different ones in different locations)(6/10). Jokers wild was a new spin on the pvpve activity Gambit and also includes another endgame activity called reckoning (which has just been rebalanced yesterday for better loot drops and easier boss fights) and also has a small story component thats quite good (7/10). The menagerie was the last activity added at the start of the last season which is a 6 player match made activity where you can "hunt" specific weapons with a level of certain rolled perks, quite good (8/10), all these content drops also had other exotic weapon quests and side stuff also. This was all bundled together before release for $50 AUD, you couldn't buy them separately.
Shadowkeep is the next expansion coming in October, you can buy this separately (after downloading new light for free) and it's 55AUD, the next season pass comes bundled with this for 90AUD, but you can buy the season pass content separately as it releases in the future.
If you're new, I suggest playing the free content first, then buying the new expansion if you want to pony up some cash and then move onto forsaken and the last season pass (this deal) later on if you feel the need.
My 2 cents as a long time destiny fan
This is a great explanation, thank you!
What complex content labelling they've chosen. Very difficult to decide what is the value for money content above collecting the free "new light" version. Confusing to use both 'seasons' and 'annual pass' in the product descriptions - and then throw Digital Deluxe Shadowkeep inclusions without a clear product descriptor on PSN Store showing what we are getting for the additional money. You could bet that in one year Shadowkeep will include all Forsaken content and be a lower price or free based on what we are seeing here.
They are trying to clean this up going forward.
There should still be a meaty-sized expansion like Forsaken and Shadowkeep once a year.
There will be 4-5 seasons a year (roughly 10 weeks each) which will be covered by either the Seasons Pass, purchased individually for $10, or just play the free aspects of it.
My recommendation to anyone wanting to jump in - just try the free New Light first. Destiny has the best gunplay on the market imo, even at 30fps. You can't go wrong purchasing any additional content afterwards if you like it. There will always be deals around.
edit: I'd be very surprised if Forsaken or Shadowkeep is ever made free. They have dissected the game so these expansions aren't essential to progression/story. Seasons are strictly seasonal now - they come and go, so you can't purchase those later and catch up on the content.
![[XB1, PS4] Destiny 2 - Forsaken Complete Collection (Including Year 2 Annual Pass) $39.95 @ Xbox/PSN Marketplace](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/53/481553.jpg?h=6cd579c3)
What are the annual passes? I've read the store pages but I'm still not clear on what the annual pass content is and what it is required for