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Rejoice! The Sparrow Racing League returns in 'Destiny: Rise of Iron'

Destiny: Rise of Iron, the science-fiction shooter’s second major expansion, looks to build on the success of
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The Taken King with new story content, a new raid, and “Devil Splicer” enemies, but a feature that was just briefly available in the game last year will be making its return, as well.

The Sparrow Racing League, a multiplayer option that launched for a limited time in 2015, was largely hailed as a nice change of pace for the otherwise combat-heavy game, though its $10 “record book” transaction drew criticism. It’s unclear if this item will also be for sale in Rise of Iron, but don’t expect to be getting the exact same racing experience that was offered in 2015.

“When we talk about [Sparrow Racing League] coming back, it’ll probably be wrapped in a different style, not just focused around [the Sparrow Racing League itself], live team director Jerry Hook told Game Informer.

Artifact items will also be undergoing what Game Informer calls a “dramatic overhaul.” Previously, these items were tied to the game’s three classes — Hunter, Titan, and Warlock — but this won’t be the case for Artifacts in Rise of Iron. Instead, the items will be “class agnostic,” focusing on different Iron Lords and their individual abilities. Completing quests for new character Tyra Karn will net you an item that can be exchanged for one of three available Artifacts.

Destiny: Rise of Iron hits Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on September 20, and centers on the Earth’s “Plaguelands” location. Pre-ordering the expansion will give you access to the “Iron Gjallarhorn” weapon, as well.

Rise of Iron will not be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — in fact, those platforms recently received their final content updates for the game. Emergency patches may still be issued, however, and the game’s multiplayer component will remain available.

Pre-order on Amazon

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…
Destiny 2 studio Bungie hit by layoffs, internal game delays
A runner runs in Marathon.

Amid a wave of layoffs at Destiny developer and Sony subsidiary Bungie this week, Destiny 2: The Final Shape and Marathon have both reportedly been delayed.
On Monday morning, tweets from developers revealed that Bungie, which was acquired by Sony in January 2022, was suffering layoffs. This was followed up by a report from Bloomberg that went into more detail about the layoffs and their impact on Bungie's future games. Sony and Bungie have not officially commented on the delays yet, although the Bloomberg article mentions that Bungie CEO Pete Parsons will hold a team meeting later today to discuss the layoffs further. This all follows contractor layoffs at Sony studio Naughty Dog earlier this month, which happened as that studio struggles to develop and release a The Last of Us multiplayer game. 

Bloomberg suggests that these layoffs, like others at Sony this year, are tied to internal game delays. While Destiny 2: The Final Shape is publicly slated to come out in February 2024, Bungie reportedly told staff that it's now going to come out in June 2024. Meanwhile, we learned that Bungie's revival of Marathon was apparently targeting a 2024 launch -- although no release window was given officially -- but will now come out sometime in 2025. These delays make the PlayStation 5's 2024 game lineup look pretty sparse right now outside of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it suggests that Destiny 2's next season will be one of its longest.
As of now, Sony and Bungie have not publicly commented on the layoffs or delays, but we will update this post when they do say more about it.

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Destiny 2: Lightfall fails to deliver its Avengers: Infinity War moment
A titan wielding a grenade launcher in Destiny 2..

The comparison between Destiny 2: Lightfall and Avengers: Infinity War is immediate from the opening moments of Bungie's latest expansion. There is no more exposition to get through; the Witness, a mythical villain that represents the root of the Darkness that Guardians have fought against for close to a decade, is here, and the Traveler who has given our heroes the Light and their god-like abilities is under direct threat. The stakes couldn't be higher, but Lightfall doesn't live up to that moment.

I'm not drawing connections here that shouldn't be made -- the bombastic opening moments of Lightfall call back Infinity War's unrelenting momentum in its first act. The Traveler is under siege in Lightfall and Guardians are dismantled by a flick of the Witness' wrist, echoing the immediate slaughter brought by the hands of Thanos moments before he arrived on Earth. That feeling is the same; our antagonist is here, and there's nowhere else to run. In the final moments of the campaign, a member of my fireteam even exclaimed, "hey, that's a line from Infinity War."

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Destiny 2: Where is Xur for the weekend of December 30
destinys weekend vendor xur extends stay psnxbox live hacks destiny

Seasoned Destiny 2 players know they can count on the elusive merchant Xur to make an appearance with special exotic items every Friday, but what's not so clear is where you'll be able to find him. Below, you'll find a map with a marker that indicates where Xur is, as well as a list of his wares.

Who is Xur?
If you're new to Destiny 2 and need a bit more information about how this works, you should know that Xur is a special vendor who sells exotic weapons and armor. Each week, he comes to the solar system with a slate of goods, including an exotic weapon and one piece of exotic armor for each character class. As of The Witch Queen, he now stocks legendary armor and weapons and sells additional exotic weapons with random rolls every week.
Where to find Xur (December 30 to January 2)
The trouble with Xur is finding him. We always know when Xur will show up -- at the 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET reset each Friday. The question is where Xur will be. Previously in Destiny 2, Xur’s location was marked on the map. He’s now unmarked and harder to find each weekend. Here’s where to go to track down Xur, the Agent of the Nine, as well as everything you need to know about what he’s offering this week.

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