Destiny: Rising Is a Free-to-Play Mobile Spin-Off From the Developer of Diablo Immortal, Bungie ‘Providing Oversight and Approvals’

The long-rumored Destiny mobile game is finally a reality, with an announcement that brings a debut trailer and word of a closed-alpha test on November 1.

Destiny: Rising is a free-to-play mobile sci-fi RPG shooter set within the Destiny universe Bungie has spent the last decade building. But this new mobile Destiny game isn’t developed or even published by Bungie itself. It’s developed and published by NetEase Games, the Chinese megacorp behind the likes of Diablo Immortal, Once Human, and the upcoming Marvel Rivals, under an official license granted by Bungie.

In 2018, NetEase invested over $100 million into Bungie to build a new game. The investment gave NetEase a minority stake in Bungie and a seat on its board of directors, but all that changed when Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion back in 2022.

— Destiny Rising (@_DestinyRising) October 14, 2024 Now, two years after the Sony buyout and six years after NetEase’s investment, Destiny: Rising is a reality. And while NetEase is the developer and publisher of Destiny: Rising, Bungie is “providing oversight and approvals of the game’s development.”

In terms of gameplay, Destiny: Rising has both first-person and third-person options, with the player able to switch between them at will. Destiny: Rising supports touchscreen controls and supports PlayStation and Xbox controllers, as well as mobile-specific controllers.

While Destiny: Rising is set within the Destiny universe, its events take place in an alternate Destiny timeline. It explores a story in the post-Dark Age era (the era that took place after the Collapse of Destiny’s Golden Age). Here’s the official blurb:

As a genesis of new possibilities in the Destiny Universe, Destiny: Rising delves into an unseen era where burgeoning hope blooms once again after a terrifying collapse of civilization and the dangers of the resulting Dark Age. With the help of legendary Iron Lords, humanity has broken free the shackles of tyranny and began to rally together against the alien forces intent on its extinction. Amidst the chaos of this early age for The City, a new generation of Lightbearers, resurrected by mysterious entities known as Ghosts, set out to restore humanity’s prominence and secure its future.There’s single-player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer gameplay, NetEase Games said, including “beloved” game modes familiar to Destiny players, and all-new modes. There are campaign missions and six-player co-op strikes that are “iconic” to the Destiny franchise. Perhaps we’ll get something along the lines of the Cerberus Vae III strike from Destiny 1, whether we wanted it or not.

As for characters, expect “familiar” faces from Destiny as well as brand new characters. There is clan support, “fun and casual” party modes, and customizable shared spaces.

Environments include the sanctuary of Haven (a refuge for the Lightbearers and survivors), the icy, ancient metro of Jiangshi, and the arid expanse of the Red Sea Rift. As you’d expect, Destiny: Rising as exotic weapons, the franchises’ signature guns.

“For over a decade, we have built this universe to contain many unique and wonderful stories, and we are excited to see mobile gamers be able to experience this new take on the Destiny universe from the creative team at NetEase,” commented Terry Redfield, creative lead at Bungie.

The announcement of Destiny: Rising comes at a troubling time for Bungie and the Destiny franchise after mass layoffs hit the legendary studio earlier this year. In September, Bungie unveiled what it called “major changes” to Destiny 2 designed to win back players. Bungie has reportedly struggled to meet key financial targets, with Destiny 2 significantly underperforming last year. The Final Shape expansion, released in June, reportedly sold less at launch than 2023’s critically panned Lightfall.’

We are excited to see mobile gamers be able to experience this new take on the Destiny universe.

In a LinkedIn post, Don McGowan, the former general counsel at Bungie, reacted to the Destiny 2 changes to say he was pleased with parent company Sony’s apparent influence in the decision making, which, he said, meant the studio was finally “running the game like a business.”

Bungie reportedly has no plans for Destiny 3 and has canceled a Destiny spinoff project known as Payback. Development on its Marathon revival is said to still be ongoing.

In December, IGN reported on an apparent scramble by Bungie studio leadership to avoid a total Sony takeover. Then, in March, IGN reported on a leadership shakeup on Marathon that included the removal of long-time Bungie designer Christopher Barrett from the game director role.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].