This week, NetEase Games unveiled Destiny: Rising, a new free-to-play mobile game set within the Destiny universe. Fully developed by NetEase under a licensing agreement with Bungie, rest assured that the game has not diverted any Bungie resources from Destiny 2—or the non-existent but still very much desired Destiny 3.
According to the official press release, Destiny: Rising “delivers a brand-new adventure set in an alternate Destiny timeline, exploring a narrative in the post-Dark Age era. Featuring a diverse roster of characters, each with unique abilities and stories, Destiny: Rising offers players dynamic and challenging single, co-op, and competitive multiplayer gameplay.” Since it takes place in an alternate timeline, this game won’t disrupt the official Destiny story canon. However, as a dedicated Destiny player, I’m curious to see how the narrative will unfold and which storylines the developers will explore.
New Characters and Gameplay Speculation
The game will introduce a variety of new characters to the Destiny franchise, and the press release highlights “a variety of playable hero characters.” To me, this hints that Destiny: Rising might take on elements of a gacha game, although this hasn’t been confirmed yet. Given NetEase’s previous work on Diablo: Immortal, players can likely expect microtransactions—both cosmetic and potentially pay-to-win features—because, well, that’s just the reality of mobile gaming.
A few notable gameplay features stand out. Unlike the core Destiny 2 experience, which is primarily first-person with occasional shifts to third-person for specific abilities or weapons, Destiny: Rising will allow players to toggle between first-person and third-person perspectives. Additionally, the game promises a variety of modes, including PVE and PVP, campaign missions, and six-player strikes—an interesting departure from Destiny’s traditional three-player strike format. The familiar looter-shooter mechanics also remain intact, with plenty of exotic weapons and gear to collect.
Long Time Coming
Rumors about a Destiny mobile game have been circulating for years, and Destiny: Rising has been in development for quite some time. From my perspective, the game isn’t designed to appeal to the core Destiny 2 player base—players like me—but instead aims to attract new audiences, particularly in Asian markets, where mobile gaming is massively popular. If the game succeeds, we could even see it make its way to consoles and PC, much like how Genshin Impact and other miHoYo titles have expanded beyond mobile platforms.
Check out the announcement trailer for Destiny: Rising to see more. And if you’re curious about what’s happening in Destiny 2, take a look at our write-up on the latest episode, Revenant.
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[…] or live service elements to keep players engaged indefinitely. After years of playing titles like Destiny 2, I prefer games with complete stories—ones I can finish and then move on to something […]
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