The rumors are true, the Destiny franchise is heading to mobile devices soon. Destiny: Rising is a new free-to-play mobile sci-fi RPG shooter that includes a number of playable hero characters, a shared world, and PvE and PvP modes all set in Bungie’s Destiny universe.
China-based NetEase Games has developed Destiny: Rising, after announcing a partnership with Bungie and a $100 million investment into the studio in 2018. Destiny: Rising will be set in an alternative Destiny timeline, exploring the post-Dark Age era of the universe and lore before the Tower existed and before the emergence of Guardians.
NetEase is licensing the Destiny brand from Bungie and it has been granted creative freedom to develop its own storyline and vision for Destiny: Rising. “We want to capture and depict a specific time where the reins are in the hands of the players to experience, to explore, to define,” says Stone Shi, senior narrative designer, at NetEase.
Unlike Destiny or Destiny 2, you’ll be able to pick from a variety of Destiny hero characters instead of creating your own Guardian based on Hunter, Warlock, or Titan classes. Hero characters include ones like Ikora Rey that exists in Destiny and Destiny 2, as well as a host of new characters.
Each character will have unique abilities and stories, and will be able to access single, co-op, and competitive multiplayer modes. There will also be the usual Ghosts, Lightbearers, Iron Lords, and Warlords found in the Destiny universe before the Last City. In a trailer for the game we see a variety of characters and their new abilities, including a new void scythe that looks a lot like something a Warlock would use in the main Destiny games. There are also familiar enemies like the Hive, Fallen, and Vex.
“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,” says Terry Redfield, creative lead at Bungie, in a press release.
Destiny: Rising players will also be able to play in first-person or even third-person view, with touchscreen controls or controllers. There will be the usual campaign missions, six-player co-op strikes, and replayable PvE and PvP modes.
Even powerful exotic weapons will be available, alongside a new Mythic weapon rarity class that includes a new weapon type, too. All of these weapons help to fight against the darkness enemies in the Destiny universe in new locations like Jiangshi and the Red Sea Rift. Part of this new Destiny narrative includes searching for seeds of hope that are said to “shape the future of human civilization” after its collapse in the Dark Age of Destiny lore.
One big question around Destiny: Rising is what monetization system it will use. NetEase isn’t answering that just yet, but it says in an FAQ that a “good part of the main campaign will be available” in the alpha test next month alongside “at least one map for all game modes” so people can try out what the game has to offer.
Destiny: Rising will be available first as a limited access closed alpha test on November 1st in the US and Canada. You can register for the test version at NetEase’s website.