Bungie has announced that nearly all downloadable and seasonal content will be available for free this month. No need to shell out £40 to access new stories and events.
If you are a free-to-play Destiny 2 player, this is the best moment to get back into the game. From now until the release of The Final Shape expansion on June 4, you can enjoy all three game expansions plus the last four seasonal contents. To be more specific, you’ll get access to Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and The Witch Queen expansions, including their story Campaigns, Exotic quests, Strikes, and Raids. If I remember correctly, older content is no longer available (sunset / vaulted) even for paid players, so aside from the Lightfall DLC you pretty much get the full experience. However, if you’re a PS Plus member, you can grab Lightfall for free, too.
Alongside these major content releases, you’ll have access to all of Year 6’s activities and story content, which include the last four seasons, i.e. Season 20 to 23. Note that the 30th Anniversary Pack is not included. All gear you manage to collect should be kept even after the launch of The Final Shape, though subclasses such as Stasis or Strand will no longer be available for those who don’t own their related DLCs.
If you don’t have much free time yet but want to give it a spin, I recommend The Witch Queen campaign. Its long missions feel more thorough than the usual ten-minute strikes in older story campaigns. If you still have time, maybe check out Year 6’s seasonal events, such as Season of the Witch or Season of the Wish. The latter is my favourite as it brings back Riven.
This is an excellent move to bring more players back into the game. Player count has dwindled following the delayed launch of The Final Shape. To get an idea, just before the release of the latest Into the Light update, the player count was around 50,000 on Steam. That number doubled after the update which brought a new PvE event. By the way, if you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it as it allows you to grab some nice weapons and armour. Some are even Red Borders, meaning you can craft them later however you like.
While a fantastic opportunity for returning and free-to-play users, I must confess, as a paid player, I feel a bit left aside. Since I own all DLCs and season passes, I don’t get anything from this. I guess at least more players will get to enjoy the game, which could reduce matchmaking time. So, if you haven’t played for a long time, don’t waste time and hop back into the game, you only have until June 4.