Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Suit up for a free trial of ‘Destiny 2’ and carry over progress after purchase

Destiny 2 - Expansion I: Curse of Osiris Reveal Trailer | PS4
Destiny 2 is one of the best shooters to release in 2017, and if you’re like us, you’ve already sunk dozens of hours into its campaign, competitive multiplayer, and cooperative missions. However, for those who haven’t suited up their Guardian quite yet, a free trial might change your mind.
Recommended Videos

Starting Tuesday, November 28, Bungie and Activision are releasing a free trial version of Destiny 2 for all available platforms. In this version of the game, players can explore two of the game’s destinations: the European Dead Zone on Earth and the moon Titan. Within these two destinations, they can access campaign missions and adventures.

Trial players can also access the Farm social space and take part in competitive multiplayer matches in the Crucible. Multiplayer is restricted to quickplay playlists during the free trial, but players can still join a clan and earn clan experience. Progressions in the free trial of Destiny 2 is capped at level 7, but players can carry over their progress to the full game when it is purchased.

Speculation of a free trial began when keen-eyed Destiny 2 players spotted an in-game emblem called “Mentor of Light” last week. In order to use it, one must “guide a trial player.” At the time, there was no trial available in Destiny 2.

This free trial works in Destiny 2‘s favor, as the game’s character progression could draw someone in after only playing for a day or two. The original game also had a free trial, but there has been a much more positive critical reception for the sequel.

The first paid expansion for the game, Curse of Osiris, is scheduled to launch on December 5. The expansion includes eight new missions taking place in a simulated region called the “Infinite Forest,” and it will include a remixed version of the Leviathan raid from the base game as well as new competitive and cooperative content. It’s available for free to those who bought the expansion pass. The second unnamed expansion is scheduled to launch next spring, and if Bungie’s release schedule resembles the first game, it’s likely we will get another major expansion next autumn.

Destiny 2 is available now for

PlayStation 4

,

Xbox One

, and

PC

.

Update: The body and title have been adjusted to reflect the official announcement from Bungie and Activision.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Counter-Strike 2 is now available on Steam for free after surprise launch
A team groups up in Counter-Strike 2.

With little more than a slight tease beforehand, Valve just launched Counter-Strike 2 on Steam.
Counter-Strike 2 - Launch Trailer
Counter-Strike is Valve's long-running competitive multiplayer shooter series. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has stayed near the top of Steam's player count charts ever since it launched in 2012. After over a decade of dominance, Valve first announced Counter-Strike 2 as a free, sequel-level upgrade to Global Offensive earlier this year. After some slight teases earlier in the month, Valve finally decided to surprise launch the game on September 27.
Counter-Strike 2 builds upon Global Offensive in Valve's newer Source 2 game engine. Outside of the obvious visual upgrades that change brings, Counter-Strike 2 adds to its predecessor with a new CS Rating system, overhauled maps, and tweaks to core mechanics like smoke grenades and the tick rate at which the first-person shooter operates. Valve also promises that the game features "upgraded Community Workshop tools," so we should get some entertaining Counter-Strike 2 mods.

Valve intends for players to smoothly transition from Global Offensive to Counter-Strike 2 as the game has simply updated to make the transition, and all items players obtained in the former work in the latter. Hopefully, this approach works out better for Valve than it did for Blizzard with Overwatch 2 last year. 
Counter-Strike 2 is available now on PC via Steam. It's a free-to-play game, although players can buy a Prime Status Upgrade for $15 that grants buyers the titular moniker. Having Prime Status grants exclusive items, item drops, and weapon cases and makes the game more likely to matchmake you with other Prime Status Counter-Strike 2 players.

Read more
6 months after launch, is Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 worth playing?
is warzone 20 worth playing six months after launch 2 0

Six months after its initial release, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has evolved tremendously, with many new features added as part of major updates. Despite this, the game still feels slightly unfinished in ways, lacking some of the features that made the original so great. Warzone 2.0 is a complex beast that may steer newcomers away, but if players can learn to master it, the battle royale can be a lot of fun, especially with a team.

But with so much competition in the battle royale space, is Warzone 2.0 worth your time six months later? Here's the current state of the popular shooter after a lot of retooling from Activision.
Slow trickle

Read more
What is Marathon? Bungie’s mysterious Destiny 2 follow-up, explained
A runner runs in Marathon.

This week's PlayStation Showcase featured a lot of surprises, from Square Enix's Foamstars to a full Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake. The biggest shocker, though, came when Bungie's logo flashed on the screen. The developer has been solely focused on the Destiny series for the last decade, so any new announcement would be significant news. For a moment, the sci-fi trailer looked like a teaser for Destiny 3. The truth would be far more surprising when we saw the game's title: Marathon.

Marathon - Announce Trailer | PS5 & PC Games

Read more