‘Destiny’ PlayStation Exclusives Quietly Extended Extra Year
Destiny‘s year-long timed PlayStation exclusivity for certain activities and items has been a sore point for the game since it first launched in 2014. Xbox One owners were looking forward to receiving the exclusive Year Two content when Rise of Iron releases this September much like they received the Year One content with the release of The Taken King. That turns out to not be the case as timed-exclusivity was quietly extended another year.
The first hint Activision, Bungie, and Sony were extending the PlayStation timed exclusivity window came during the Gamescom livestream broadcast Tuesday. Community Manager David “Deej” Dague mentioned the “Sector 618” map was not going to be available for use in the new Private Crucible Match feature.
An update to a section of the Destiny website about the PlayStation exclusive content that will be part of Destiny – The Collection confirms why. The content listed comes with an asterisk mark next to it. Scrolling all the way to the bottom of the screen to read the footnote attached to the asterisk reveals the content will remain a timed exclusive at least through the fall of 2017.
- Iron Banner “Camelot” armor
- EV-42 Nightsteed Sparrow
- The Jade Rabbit Exotic Scout Rifle
- “Echo Chamber” Strike
- “Sector 618” Crucible map
And this is the list of timed-exclusive content that is added with Destiny: The Rise of Iron, as previously covered by Inqusitr:
- “Show of Strength” quest
- “Timeless Tereshkova” ship
- “Icarus” Crucible map
The “Sector 618” map, “Echo Chamber” Crucible map, The Jade Rabbit Scout Rifle, and Iron Banner “Camelot” armor were all introduced with The Taken King. That will make them a year old when Destiny: Rise of Iron releases and two years old before Xbox One owners will see it. Of course, this will also be the time when Destiny 2 will be released and most players will begin migrating to the sequel.
Interestingly, the PlayStation exclusive content introduced from the April update is not listed. This includes the “Essence of Darkness” Quest that comes with the exclusive Velumbra Sparrow along with a set of armor for each of the three Destiny classes. Warlocks got Barkhan Dune I, Hunters gained Long Tomorrow 9G, and Titans added the Jovian Guard. Finally, the Queen-inspired Zen Meteor Exotic Sniper Rifle is also not listed.
There has been no announcement from either Activision or Sony about the extension of the timed-exclusivity period for activities and items introduced with The Taken King. It’s possible it may be related to the delay of Destiny 2, which was supposed to be released this year. This writer contacted Activision about but has not received an official response at the time of this article. One will be added if it is received.
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players who want to upgrade to the latest console versions can do so for $20 less. Activision is offering a legacy console upgrade path (via official site) for those who have purchased Destiny content up through The Taken King. Those interested can do so now by logging into the Xbox Store or PlayStation store via their current-gen console to see if they are eligible.
The legacy console upgrade path will be available until January 31, 2017, and is only good for upgrading within the same console family. This means you won’t be able to upgrade from the Xbox 360 to PlayStation 4 or the PS4 to the Xbox One.
What do you think of the timed-exclusive Destiny activities and items being extended a year for PlayStation? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Bungie]
