Destiny Expansion to Hit Consoles in Time for Christmas

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The Dark Below downloadable content for multiplayer shooter Destiny will release on Dec. 9, and add both new story and gameplay elements.

Destiny is one of those curious games that's not that great, and yet you can't seem to tear yourself away from it. Players who have been grinding the same content again and again since September can breathe a sigh of relief, though, as a full expansion for the online shooter is on the way. The Dark Below downloadable content will release on Dec. 9, and add both new story and gameplay elements.

The Dark Below ($20 by itself, or as part of the $35 season pass) is the first of two planned major expansions for Destiny, which is currently available on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3. The setup sounds simple enough: A new character named Eris warns players that a dark god name Crota is on his way, and the Earth is in for a rough time once he arrives.

MORE: Destiny Review: Lost in Space

Working alongside Eris, players will take on new quests and gather new gear to stop Crota and save the world, at least until the second expansion arrives. To help players cope with the new challenges, the expansion will raise the level cap to 32 and allow five new Bounty slots.

For players who prefer to team up, there will be one new Strike, The Will of Crota, and one new Raid, Crota's End. Activision has not revealed many details about them yet, but based on the titles, doing battle with Crota and his forces seems like a solid bet.

The Dark Below will also add three new competitive maps: the verdant Pantheon, the vehicle-friendly Skyshock and the up-close-and-personal Cauldron. PlayStation gamers will also have access to some timed exclusive content: a Strike called The Undying Mind.

"Bestselling multiplayer gets expansion" is perhaps not the most mind-blowing news you'll read all day, but for Destiny players hankering for something new, The Dark Below looks like it should hit the spot.

Marshall Honorof is a Staff Writer for Tom's Guide. Contact him at mhonorof@tomsguide.com. Follow him @marshallhonorof and on Google+. Follow us @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.

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Marshall Honorof
Marshall Honorof

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. 

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6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • razor512
    Seems like a bad business model. From previous articles, it is clear that some development time during the original release of the game, went into the expansion. It also seems that they are clearly planning to monetize the game by constantly releasing paid content, which will segment the community, and if there is any PVP, then also cause some pay to win elements since the expansion will have newer and better gear.

    The original game was heavily criticized due to its lack of content and much of the time being spent on repetitive grinding and dealing with bullet sponges that follow fixed action patters.

    This will likely anger many people who has hoped to buy a game that will improve over time rather than having to constantly buy new updates to the game every few months. (imagine paying for early access to a beta on steam and having the developer charge for updates).

    Reply
  • xelliz
    I agree with razor512. I bought this game because my friend asked me to get it and its like I'm beta testing and only have limited access. Charging $20 to add such small amount of content to a $60 game that is already heavily criticized for lack of content to begin with. I definitely wasted my money and won't be spending anymore on this game.
    Reply
  • antilycus
    BTW: I have gone from Checking tom's sites from every day to once a month since I am since some change a couple weeks ago changed the ability for me to comment. 15 years out the window from one of your most "loyal" readers/comments simply because I need to "unblock" ads on this page to make commenting work. Goodbye Tomsguide.com tomshardware.com and everything else. You've been great, but now you've lost me(and millions of others)
    Reply
  • antilycus
    This UPDATE /DLC is going to bomb HARD as there are petitions all over the place to stop giving Bungie and Activision people's hard earned money
    Reply
  • antilycus
    This UPDATE /DLC is going to bomb HARD as there are petitions all over the place to stop giving Bungie and Activision people's hard earned money
    Reply
  • thor220
    Destiny should copy off of Guild Wars and their payment method. Free content so anyone can join in at anytime and cosmetic micro transactions to support the game.

    Really though $20 dollars is way too much for each "expansion". I'm guess it's going to add little content to a game that's pretty much as thin as it gets.

    also, it's really dumb that they are raising the level cap. It makes gathering high rarity gear worthless. If they are going to up the level cap every two months, what's the point of spending time on raids when the gear you get is going to be crap in a day or two.

    Last, wtf is with the exclusive content? Even though it's timed, this is an MMO. What kind of POS company locks a huge chuck of it's player base out of content when everyone is connected. I guess the same people who are going to force players to buy expansions every two months containing content most likely cut out of the game.

    I used to respect bungie but they did better under Microsoft.
    Reply