As part of its newly renewed plans for Destiny 2 PvP, Bungie is planning to bring the classic Destiny 1 mode Rift to today's Crucible sometime next year.
Assistant game director Joe Blackburn outlined the studio's PvP ambitions in a recent Twitter thread ahead of Bungie's big August 24 showcase. Reaffirming the studio's passion for PvP, Blackburn stressed that "plussing up the current Crucible experience" has been a big focus this past year, and that it's now in the process of "spinning up teams on new maps and modes."
"The ultimate goal here is consistency," he says. "If you play PvP, the team wants you to understand that you will be getting new maps and modes every year, and that the cadence of those coming out feels predictable."
It all starts next season (season 15) with the long-teased overhaul for Trials of Osiris, the game's pinnacle weekend PvP mode. More details will be shared August 24, Blackburn says, adding that the team hopes to deliver an update on the scale of this Trials revamp every year based on the "broad systemic improvements the PvP ecosystem needs."
As something of a stop-gap, season 16 will bring back two maps previously moved into the Destiny 2 content vault. The big new content will begin in season 17 with an all-new map. And as something of a middle ground, season 18 will "for the first time" see one Destiny 1 map totally "remastered".
Alongside these new and returning maps, Bungie's planning to revive and introduce a few game modes. The studio's currently "investigating getting Rift in Destiny 2 next year", but Blackburn didn't commit to a sure-thing or an exact date, mainly because "the team is validating that the mode still holds up with our new gameplay." This makes it sound like Rift is coming one way or another, but it may not be the exact fast-paced Capture the Flag riff we remember.
Looking further ahead, Bungie's working on "multiple" new PvP modes for 2022. Again, Blackburn didn't offer any specifics, but considering that the Crucible has primarily lost maps and modes over the past few years, new content is always good. For context, it's been around 600 days since the game got an all-new map.
"All of this effort is going to be done in parallel with the team looking to fund the far future with a predictable roadmap of maps in Lightfall and beyond," Blackburn added, referring to the now four-expansion arc that will carry Destiny 2 through 2024 and beyond.
This isn't the first time Bungie's promised a renewed focus on PvP, and Blackburn admits "it is going to take some time before you start seeing results in game," but he's also speaking with encouraging specificity. If everything goes according to plan, Crucible enthusiasts ought to be eating well for the next few seasons and even the foreseeable future – or at the very least, they won't be stuck with empty stomachs anymore.
Here's a Bungie throwback for you: the voice of Halo multiplayer takes a crack at Crucible dialogue for Shaxx and Saladin.
