Bungie has revealed the date Destiny 2 players will be able to start moving accounts freely between platforms to be August 21st. That’s when the game studio says it’s expecting to launch cross-save support for the open-world shooter, a long-awaited feature only just announced back in early June. Bungie says it’s launching cross-save ahead of its planned October expansion Shadowkeep to “give you the time you need to link your accounts and get your friends lists sorted before the launch of Shadowkeep and New Light.”
Cross-save is just one of many positive changes coming to Destiny 2 in the next few months, albeit a feature many players have requested for years and one that looked unlikely to ever arrive. But since Bungie split with publishing partner Activision in January, the studio has been free to start making more substantial changes to how it develops and distributes the game going forward. That includes partnering with Google for its launch of its cloud gaming platform Stadia later this fall, and the introduction of a free-to-play version of Destiny 2 called New Light.
Helping the matter is the popularity and influence of Epic Games’ Fortnite, which became a huge factor last year in pressuring Sony to relent on blocking cross-progression for the hit battle royale game between the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch platforms. Bungie reportedly convinced Sony last-minute, the day before it was scheduled to announce Shadowkeep back in June, to support its cross-save initiative, no doubt because Sony has opened the floodgates thanks to Fortnite, Rocket League, and other titles.
Now, Destiny 2 players will be able to take PS4 and Xbox accounts and migrate them to PC and vice versa, with players allowed to freely move between platforms whenever they choose. Bungie says the cross-save feature will be a one-time action, meaning you won’t have to go through a process every time you want to log onto a new platform after moving to a different one. It says it will also allow you to disable it if you so choose, but it will make you wait 90 days to reactivate to help cut down on account recoveries.
There are some other restrictions. There won’t be any cross-platform play to start, so no participating in raids or Crucible multiplayer matches on PS4 with PC players. You’ll be stuck with the platform population of whatever version of the game you’re currently playing. You also won’t be able to move game purchases or purchased in-game currency (like silver) from one platform to another, likely due to the platform cuts in place for operators like Sony and Microsoft. That means you’ll have to buy expansions like Forsaken and the Season of Opulence on PC if you want to access that content there, even if you already own the software on PS4.
Thankfully, with New Light, Bungie will let you move your characters over to the free-to-play version of the game launching in October. That way, you’ll only need to purchase Shadowkeep on a second platform to play up-to-date content across console and PC. (Shadowkeep won’t require you to own any previous Destiny 2 expansion to access its missions, weapons, and other content.) Bungie stresses you’ll also be able to move every in-game item with you as you switch platforms, so you won’t be leaving any weapons, armor, or other gear behind.
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Source: Theverge
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