Destiny 2: Shadowkeep will be around the same size as Rise of Iron

Last year’s Forsaken expansion to Destiny 2 could easily be described with two mere words, but because this is a classy website all I’ll say is that those two descriptors rhyme with “Ducking Luge”. What began with a journey to the Reef to take down the not so magnificent seven Barons who killed Cayde-6, grew even larger in an endgame that unlocked the most ambitious patrol zone yet in the game: The Dreaming City of the Awoken.

A massive slice of territory that was home to misty stretches of land, deep caverns and gleaming towers, the Dreaming City hid secrets and a curse within its walls. Designed to be endgame content that would keep player active for months, Bungie succeeded in creating something magical. The bar was set, and any expansion following in the footsteps of Forsaken was going to have a hard time clearing that benchmark in excellence.

Which is why it sounds like Shadowkeep’s return to the Moon won’t reach that same level of size and scope. Speaking to Polygon, Destiny 2 general manager Mark Noseworthy revealed that in terms of size, Shadowkeep would be less Forsaken and more Rise of Iron when explored:

Forsaken was a huge expansion pack for Destiny 2,” said Noseworthy. “In terms of what we’re able to build this year, it’s more much in scope with a Rise of Iron or Rise of Iron Plus.

That’s not a bad thing at all really. What Rise of Iron did for the original Destiny, was remix familiar territory and give it a dangerous new twist with the reborn House of Devils and the SIVA outbreak. Even if the locale was familiar, the zone itself still had plenty of new tricks up its sleeve in the form of new Exotic Quests or the delightful arena of the Archon’s Forge.

It’s an idea which could easily be applied to other classic Destiny locations, such as the Cosmodrome and Venus, were it not for one slight hiccup: Destiny 2 has become rather chuffing large in its present state. “Destiny [2] is a huge game,” Noseworthy explained.

We mean in terms of the scope of the game, that complexity, but also just the amount of space we take on people’s hard drives.

He’s not joking. Currently, the entire Destiny 2 package is sitting at around 82 gigglebytes of digital real estate on my PS4, which is what most scientists refer to as “a chuffing lot”. Long story short, don’t expect another Forsaken-class expansion this year for Destiny 2, but do expect to see the game reach the current end of its life cycle sooner rather than later as Bungie works on the future of this franchise. Which now includes combat finishers because yes.

Last Updated: July 16, 2019