Destiny 2: The Witch Queen delayed, new expansion confirmed

The world of Destiny 2 has shifted dramatically over the past months with the release of Beyond Light and the start of Year 4. A completely new planet, subclass, content vaulting, and weapon sunsetting made the game feel revamped for better or worse.

Bungie had laid out long-term plans for the franchise, which included two more big expansions to close out the narrative being set in the original launch of Destiny back in 2014, with The Witch Queen, the second of three, scheduled for a 2021 release. Sadly, that's not the case anymore.

In a developer update, the company revealed that The Witch Queen has been delayed and will go live "early 2022".

Why is The Witch Queen delayed?

(Image: Bungie)

According to Bungie, the health of employees was above all as they looked to avoid crunch practices. Furthermore, three key points were highlighted.

First off, The Witch Queen is being teased as the most ambitious expansion in terms of story, serving as a bridge between the original events Destiny 1 was setting up and the future, specifically, Lightfall and beyond.

• Read more: Destiny 2 Season of the Chosen: New activities, exotic quests, and more

Second of all, Bungie is also working on several systems to help the experience feel much better, one of them is crossplay, which is now confirmed to be hitting the game in Season 15. Finally, as COVID-19 has impacted the way developers work, shifting to a home office setup, they are operating at a slower pace.

Destiny 2 new expansion confirmed

It's not all bad news, as Bungie did drop a snippet of information regarding the future, post-Lightfall, confirming a fourth expansion that will close out the "Light and Darkness" saga.

No information was shared beyond that, but it sure has got us excited.

For more on Destiny 2, check out everything that's happening right now with Season of the Chosen, the 13th season of the game, including season pass contents and brand-new activities and exotics to chase.

For more Destiny 2 news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below: