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Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date, story, gameplay, and news

Here's the latest news on the Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date, the next big expansion to Bungie's hit FPS on PS5, PS4, Xbox, and PC.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape Release Date: The Witness

When is The Final Shape release date? In the years since its release, Destiny 2’s story has continued to grow in scope and quality, a trend that has continued so far during the Lightfall expansion year. However, the storyline that has been building over the past decade, The Light and Darkness Saga, is set to conclude with the next expansion, The Final Shape. Therefore, it’s important to know the Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date, along with story details, and other things we know about this huge expansion.

Before Destiny 2 The Final Shape arrives, get into shape with the best Destiny 2 Titan buildDestiny 2 Warlock build, and Destiny 2 Hunter build to give yourself a leg-up on the enemies of the Light, no matter what class you main. However, following news of key layoffs at Bungie, the wait will be longer than expected for the next expansion, with significant knock-on effects for Season 23 and the upcoming Episodes.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date

The official Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date is Tuesday, June 4, 2024, on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC, as officially confirmed by Bungie. The developer says that this is to give it the time needed to “deliver an even bigger and bolder vision” that will be “remembered and treasured for years to come.”

While this is massively delayed from the original date – February 27, 2024 – Bungie has a content plan in place to ensure that players won’t be left hanging for new content in the lead-up to it. This is great news considering many – including ourselves – were concerned that the FPS MMO’s latest season, the Season of the Wish, would simply be extended by months without any extra content coming to it.

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To begin with, Season of the Wish will get a refresh of sorts in February – its original end date – with the introduction of “weekly progression-based quests called Wishes, and the launch of Moments of Triumph with unique rewards.” This could be a great opportunity for players who have yet to reach the Lightfall power level cap or are struggling to accumulate enough seasonal engrams to god-roll their pieces.

The 2024 Guardian Games will also be shifted as a result of the new release date. The games have typically run throughout May over the past couple of years, though they will now be held in March.

Moving into April, a two-month content update called ‘Destiny 2: Into the Light’ will arrive. This is Bungie’s way of ramping up players into The Final Shape, though details on what this entails are thin on the ground. We’d expect a few new missions, as well as a taste test of new powers, weapons, and armor, to come with this. Finally, May will bring with it three new PvP maps – everyone likes this.

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Dubbed “the last expedition of Destiny’s first saga”, The Final Shape was officially set to release in line with the yearly schedule fans have come to expect. However, following layoffs at Bungie in October, a report by Jason Schreier suggested the expansion would be delayed to June 2024 – something Bungie later confirmed in late November 2023.

Schrier’s report claimed that Bungie staff were informed that Destiny 2 The Final Shape (as well as Marathon, Bungie’s new IP) were to be delayed significantly. Alongside this reported delay are an undisclosed number of staff having been laid off from Bungie due to job cuts across PlayStation as a whole, including community and social positions, art, marketing, player support, and even Michael Salvatori, one of the many talented composers behind the Destiny OST.

Ever since Destiny 2 The Witch Queen was delayed to launch on February 22, 2022, each following expansion and major update is released on a yearly cadence in February. For example, Lightfall arrived on February 28, 2023. As such, this delay can be considered unprecedented.

Before The Witch Queen delay, the yearly expansions for Destiny 2 used to launch in September. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait that long for The Final Shape to finally arrive.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date: An official timeline and content overview of the Episodes format for the game.

A further point of consideration is that the Destiny 2 Episodes structure, set to replace Seasons after the release of The Final Shape, will also need to be adjusted. Currently, Episode 1: Echoes is set to run from March to June, Episode 2: Revenant from July to October, and Episode 3: Heresy from November to February 2025.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date: Guardians exploring the Pale Heart

Destiny 2 The Final Shape story

The Final Shape will bring back Cayde into the story as we enter The Traveller, face the “deadliest entity we’ve ever faced” and “reconnect” with characters we have lost and are still allied with to this day. All, while taking down The Witness and exploring The Traveller’s “Pale Heart”, the new location in the expansion.

The return of Cayde is a huge twist and in reality is probably still dead, due to the wispy energy around Cayde, but he is seemingly back because The Witness is shaping The Pale Heart around you. It is bringing back locations, and environments, and piecing together parts from your Guardian’s journey. For example, in the Destiny 2 showcase, we see parts of Earth, the Moon, the Destiny 1 Traveller, a Leviathan ship, and many more areas.

As such, it seems like The Witness is shaping our perspective, which is why Cayde is back. In the center of The Pale Heart, there is The Witness’ Monolith. The closer you get to it, the weirder the enemies get.

During a very short teaser trailer for The Final Shape showcase event, we get to see a clip of Guardians preparing to fly directly into the portal in the Traveler, as well as a quick glimpse of the Witness. How exactly this is achieved is unknown, but we’re in store for an epic finale.

With The Final Shape being the last expansion in The Light and Darkness Saga, the expansion should conclude the story that has been building over the decade between the launch of Destiny in 2014 and the release of Destiny 2 The Final Shape in 2024. We can expect, therefore, to perhaps see some clash between the Light and Dark, and perhaps even learn more about the mysterious Gardener and Winnower as well.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape Release Date: Guardians by the Monolith

Destiny 2 The Final Shape gameplay

Destiny 2 The Final Shape is still a while away, but we have seen gameplay from the Destiny 2 Showcase 2023. Here we see The Pale Heart, the new location, and the new supers on offer in the expansion. This new location is inside The Traveller and The Witness is shaping The Pale Heart around you.

So, we will see locations we have visited before, such as The Tower from Destiny 1. There are also new weapon types, like a rocket pistol, a healing support auto rifle, and a number of returning Destiny 1 Exotic Weapons. You can get a glimpse of the new location below.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape supers

The new Destiny 2 The Final Shape supers are:

  • Warlock Song of Flame (Solar) – This is a call-back to Radiance from Destiny 1. You are able to throw ‘Sentient’ grenades, which give solar weapons on your team Scorch and Scorching Well can be cast too. It is the only other first-person super outside of Golden Gun.
  • Titan Twilight Arsenal (Void) – This is a ranged one-off ranged super, where you throw void axes that cause explosions. Allies can pick them up after they have being thrown and use them as melee weapons.
  • Hunter Storm’s Edge (Arc) – This super has you throw an electric throwing knife, blink to it, and then do big melee damage. It can chain up to three times and it “makes you feel like you’re playing a fighting game” with the combos you can pull off, according to Bungie.

You can check out promotional shots for each super below.

Is Destiny 2 The Final Shape the end of Destiny?

No, Destiny 2 The Final Shape is not the end of Destiny. Bungie have stated in a blog post that The Final Shape will be the final chapter in The Light and Darkness Saga, the “first saga of Destiny”. Therefore, whatever happens in The Final Shape will leave room for future narratives to emerge and play out in the Episodes structure, which will be replacing Seasons.

In fact, in a recent roundtable interview, Shacknews reported that Bungie’s narrative designers hinted that the next saga will likely focus on the Vex.

According to the article, Senior Narrative Designer Nikko Stevens stated “I think once Final Shape concludes, the Vex might be in a position to do some more stuff.” While the Vex have been largely pushed to the sidelines over recent years, only now being brought back into the narrative with the Veil and Black Garden revelations, they’re set to make a big return.

If so, this makes the Episodes coming after The Final Shape very intriguing, as they seemingly don’t relate to the Vex at all. Episode 1: Echoes appears to focus on the Cabal, Episode 2: Revenant centers around the Scorn, and Episode 3: Heresy is all about the Hive. Unless the Vex are weaved into these upcoming Episodes, this overarching Vex narrative is perhaps planned for later down the line.

That’s everything we know about Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date as of right now. This guide will be kept up to date with the latest information on this big new expansion. For more on Destiny 2, be sure to check out the best Destiny 2 weapons and best Destiny 2 PvP weapons to destroy your opponents with ease.