Shadowkeep and future releases are considered standalone releases, not requiring players to own previous premium content. This content became free to owners of Forsaken just prior to the release of the next expansion, Shadowkeep (October 2019), which began Year Three. An Annual Pass, which began the game's seasonal content model, was also available alongside this release and contained three premium content drops for Year Two (December 2018 and March and June 2019). The base game and the first three expansions were packaged into the Destiny 2: Forsaken Legendary Collection. A third, large expansion, Forsaken (September 2018), began Year Two with an overhaul on gameplay. Year One of Destiny 2 featured two small expansions, Curse of Osiris (December 2017) and Warmind (May 2018). Like the original Destiny, the game features expansion packs which further the story and adds new content across the game. Players assume the role of a Guardian, protectors of Earth's last safe city as they wield a power called Light to protect humanity from different alien races and combat the looming threat of the Darkness. PvP features objective-based modes, as well as traditional deathmatch game modes.
These activities have an emphasis on exploration of the destinations and interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) the original Destiny only featured NPCs in social spaces. A free roam patrol mode is also available for each destination which feature public events as well as activities not available in the original. In addition to normal story missions, PvE features three-player " strikes" and dungeons and six-player raids. Like the original, activities in Destiny 2 are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) game types. Set in a " mythic science fiction" world, the game features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games. It is the sequel to 2014's Destiny and its subsequent expansions. The game was published by Activision until December 31, 2018, when Bungie acquired the publishing rights to the franchise. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a service model, under the New Light title on October 1, 2019, followed by the game's release on Stadia the following month, and then the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms in November 2020. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows platforms. Destiny 2 (also known as Destiny 2: New Light) is a free-to-play online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie.