Destiny 2: Into the Light free update launches April 9, adds new game mode to cover until The Final Shape

Developer Bungie revealed more about the next big update to Destiny 2, titled "Into the Light." The update is designed to introduce new content and rewards for players currently in the game and waiting for Destiny 2: The Final Shape to launch on June 4, 2024. The Final Shape was originally supposed to release in late February, but was pushed back.

The result was a multi-month extension of the game's current Season, Season of the Wish. However, Season of the Wish's activities and content alone aren't enough to keep players interested, which is where Into the Light comes in. The update will function as a playable prologue of sorts that leads up to the events of The Final Shape, which is to be the culmination of the main Destiny 2 (and to an extent, the original Destiny) story arc so far. In Into the Light, the Witness is mounting an invasion of the Last City in an attempt to prevent the Guardians from following it into the spherical hull of the Traveler. The Vanguard is thus forced to deploy Guardians within the city itself to protect the populace and force the enemy back in time to mount an expedition to the Traveler.

The main new addition for Destiny 2: Into the Light is called Onslaught, a new 3-player activity that's best described as a wave-based survival mode, set within the Last City itself. A Guardian Fireteam will fight waves of enemy forces trying to protect a large structure called an Advanced Defense Unit, a key component of the Last City's defenses. Onslaught will have a maximum of 50 waves (with a "casual" 10-wave mode for players with less time to spare), and waves will be broken up by short excursions aboard a Pyramid Ship, one of the capital ships of the Witness' forces. Players can collect scrap from enemies to pay to summon defenses and allies to better hold off the Witness' armies.

Bungie demonstrated a few waves of Onslaught during the first of three planned livestream events intended to promote Into the Light to fans and newcomers. You can see gameplay footage at about 9 minutes in:

In addition to Onslaught, players will see new weapons from what's called the BRAVE Arsenal, new armor sets inspired by the original designs from Destiny 2 Year 1, and a full new social space to hang out with other players in.

Destiny 2: Into the Light launches for free for all Destiny 2 players on April 9, 2024, and runs until the launch of The Final Shape on June 4, 2024.