70 Fun Facts About Destiny 2

In what year was the original Destiny released for PlayStation and Xbox consoles?

Destiny launched on September 9, 2014, arriving on both the previous and current PlayStation and Xbox generations on the same day.

Destiny was Bungie's first new console franchise since which series?

Halo: Combat Evolved opened the series in 2001, and Bungie's final entry, Halo: Reach, shipped in 2010 before the studio turned to Destiny.

How long was the publishing agreement Bungie signed with Activision in 2010?

Ten years: the contract signed in April 2010 was a decade-long deal, and Bungie left it early to publish Destiny itself.

In which year did Bungie announce it was splitting from Activision to self-publish Destiny?

Bungie announced the split in January 2019 and published Shadowkeep itself that October, its first self-released expansion.

How much did Sony Interactive Entertainment pay to acquire Bungie in 2022?

Sony announced the $3.6 billion purchase in January 2022, with about $1.2 billion of it earmarked for retaining Bungie staff.

Which company acquired Bungie in 2000?

Microsoft bought Bungie in June 2000 and kept its flagship shooter series when the studio went independent again in October 2007.

In which US city was Bungie originally based?

Bungie was founded in Chicago in 1991; Alex Seropian and Jason Jones had met in an artificial intelligence course at the University of Chicago.

Which actor originally voiced the player's Ghost in the first Destiny?

Peter Dinklage voiced Ghost at launch; his flat delivery drew heavy criticism after the alpha, and his lines were later re-recorded by a different actor.

Who replaced the original Ghost actor for The Taken King and re-recorded all of Ghost's earlier lines?

Nolan North took over as Ghost with The Taken King in 2015, re-recording every earlier line, and said he avoided listening to the old takes.

According to a much-mocked line from Destiny's alpha test, where did "that wizard" come from?

The Moon: Ghost's alpha line 'That wizard came from the Moon' was cut before release, but Bungie embraced the joke and later sold a charity T-shirt of it.

Which actor voiced Cayde-6 for the majority of the character's appearances?

Nathan Fillion voiced Cayde-6 from the character's debut, having earlier played Edward Buck for Bungie in ODST; a scheduling clash kept him out of Forsaken.

Which actor voiced Commander Zavala from Destiny's launch until his death in 2023?

Lance Reddick voiced Zavala from launch until his death in March 2023; he was also Sylens in the Horizon games and Martin Hatch in Quantum Break.

Who took over as the voice of Commander Zavala for The Final Shape?

Keith David was announced as Zavala's new voice at Bungie's August 2023 showcase and carried the role through The Final Shape's June 2024 release.

Which actress voices Ikora Rey, one of the Vanguard leaders?

Gina Torres voices Ikora Rey; the same cast list has Lauren Cohan as the Stranger and Claudia Black as Eververse vendor Tess Everis.

Which British actor voiced the Speaker, the Traveler's representative in the Tower?

Bill Nighy voiced the masked Speaker, the Traveler's emissary in the Tower, who was captured by Dominus Ghaul's forces during Destiny 2's opening campaign.

Which Guardian class has the Nova Bomb super?

Warlock: the class Bungie pitched as a 'space wizard' wields the Void Nova Bomb super, a thrown sphere of energy with variant upgrades.

Titans were partly inspired by Stormtroopers and which of Bungie's own earlier characters?

Master Chief, the armoured hero of Bungie's earlier shooter series, and Imperial Stormtroopers were the stated models; Titans play as 'space gladiator' tanks favouring heavy weapons and melee.

How many shots did Destiny's original Golden Gun super fire by default?

Three: the original Golden Gun gave a Hunter three flaming shots, and the Achlyophage Symbiote exotic helmet was needed to add a fourth.

Cayde-6, Banshee-44 and the Stranger all belong to which race of humanoid machines?

The number in an Exo's name counts their reboots, so Cayde had been reset six times before the events of the games.

Who killed Cayde-6 at the start of Forsaken?

Uldren Sov, the Awoken prince, shot Cayde with Cayde's own gun in the Prison of Elders, then fled to the Tangled Shore.

Cayde-6 was murdered with which of his own hand cannons?

Ace of Spades: Cayde's exotic hand cannon was recovered during the Forsaken campaign and became an exotic quest reward for players.

Cayde-6's killer was later resurrected as an amnesiac Lightbearer known by what name?

Crow debuted in Season of the Hunt in late 2020, working for Spider on the Tangled Shore before revealing himself to the Vanguard.

What was the name of Cayde-6's Ghost, whose destruction meant he could not be revived?

Sundance, Cayde's Ghost, was shot by one of the Scorn Barons during the Prison of Elders breakout; without a Ghost, Cayde could not be revived.

Bungie's in-game tribute after Cayde-6's death was a coupon players collected from which Tower booth?

The ramen shop: after Forsaken's opening, players could pick up Cayde's spicy ramen coupon at the Tower's noodle stand, a quiet memorial to his favourite food.

Destiny's first raid, the Vault of Glass, is set on which planet?

Venus hosts the Vault of Glass, which opened one week after Destiny's launch; its final boss is Atheon, Time's Conflux.

The antagonist of The Dark Below is the son of which Hive god?

Oryx, the Taken King, came to avenge his slain son, and his defeat in the King's Fall raid closed The Taken King's story.

The Dreadnaught, the Hive ship explored in The Taken King, sits within the rings of which planet?

Saturn: the Dreadnaught parked among Saturn's rings, and its patrol zone included a Court arena where players summoned bosses with runes.

Which of the original Hive siblings carries the title "God of War"?

Xivu Arath is the Hive God of War; she began as the Krill sister Xi Ro, alongside siblings Aurash and Sathona, on the world Fundament.

Eris Morn first appeared as the sole survivor of a fireteam that had tried to take on which enemy?

Crota: Eris Morn's six-Guardian fireteam, led by Eriana-3, descended into the Hellmouth to kill the Hive prince, and she alone escaped, years later and without her Ghost.

Which Destiny expansion introduced the Prison of Elders arena and Trials of Osiris?

House of Wolves, released in May 2015, also added the Vestian Outpost social space in the Reef and the sidearm weapon class.

Rise of Iron's Fallen enemies were empowered by what self-replicating Golden Age nanotechnology?

SIVA, a self-replicating nanotech weapon from the Golden Age, was dug up by the Fallen Devil Splicers; Lord Saladin, the last Iron Lord, leads the effort to wipe it out.

Which two consoles did NOT receive Rise of Iron, making it the first Destiny content to skip them?

PS3 and Xbox 360 were left behind: the base game and the expansions before it shipped on all four consoles, but Rise of Iron went only to PS4 and Xbox One.

Gjallarhorn, the Year One fan-favourite exotic, is what type of weapon?

Rocket launcher: Gjallarhorn's Wolfpack Rounds split into tracking cluster missiles, and the exotic returned to Destiny 2 in the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack.

Xûr, the weekend exotic vendor, is described as an agent of whom?

The Nine: Xûr's title is Agent of the Nine, and he first visited Destiny 2 on September 15, 2017, the week Trials of the Nine launched.

Which enemy race is described as a military-industrial empire of gigantic amphibians?

Cabal: the huge amphibious legionaries rely on heavy armour, ballistic shields and jump packs, and Destiny players first fought them in the Exclusion Zone on Mars.

The Vex are made of microscopic organisms that survive in what organic fluid?

Radiolaria, the milky fluid inside every Vex frame, houses the microscopic organisms that are the true Vex; the metal bodies are only their shells.

The insectoid nomadic pirate race called the Fallen are also known by what name?

Eliksni is the Fallen's own name for themselves; the Traveler once visited their homeworld Riis, where they revered it as the 'Great Machine' before it left.

Which former Beatle collaborated with Marty O'Donnell on the music for Destiny?

Paul McCartney co-wrote the Music of the Spheres suite with Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, and sang Destiny's end-credits song 'Hope for the Future'.

Roughly how much did Destiny sell at retail in its first five days, then the biggest new franchise launch ever?

$325 million: Activision reported Destiny had sold through more than that worldwide within five days of launch, calling it the biggest new franchise debut ever.

Which faction, commanded by Dominus Ghaul, attacked the Last City at the start of Destiny 2?

Red Legion troops under Ghaul caged the Traveler and stripped Guardians of their Light, leaving the survivors to regroup at the Farm.

On PC, Destiny 2 launched exclusively on which storefront in October 2017?

Battle.net hosted Destiny 2 as its first non-Blizzard game from October 24, 2017; the PC version moved to Steam two years later with Shadowkeep.

Under what title did Destiny 2 go free-to-play alongside Shadowkeep?

New Light, launched alongside Shadowkeep, gave free players a remade version of the original Destiny's Cosmodrome opening mission as their introduction.

Which PvE/PvP hybrid mode, hosted by the Drifter, debuted with Forsaken?

Gambit, run by the Drifter, pits two fireteams against PvE enemies to bank motes, with invasions letting one side disrupt the other; it debuted with Forsaken in 2018.

Beyond Light took Guardians to which icy moon of Jupiter?

Europa: Beyond Light's frozen moon is where the Fallen Kell Eramis wielded Stasis, and the Deep Stone Crypt raid explored a Clovis Bray facility beneath its ice.

In Beyond Light, the Stranger reveals she is the sister of which Warmind-era character?

Ana Bray, the Hunter who reclaimed the Bray name in the Warmind expansion, is the sister of the Stranger, Elisabeth 'Elsie' Bray; both are granddaughters of Clovis Bray I.

Which new weapon type, with both melee and short-range attacks, debuted in The Witch Queen?

Glaive: The Witch Queen's new first-person polearm combines melee strikes with a short-range projectile and a blocking shield; the campaign's first crafted weapon, The Enigma, was one.

Who is the final boss of the Vow of the Disciple raid?

Rhulk, the first Disciple of the Darkness, is the final boss of Vow of the Disciple, fought inside his sunken Pyramid in Savathûn's Throne World.

Lightfall's city of Neomuna is located on which planet?

Neptune: Neomuna's Golden Age colonists hid their neon city on the ice giant, and it is guarded by cybernetically enhanced Cloud Striders.

Which movement tool does the Strand subclass, introduced in Lightfall, give Guardians?

A grappling hook: Strand's grapple grenade lets Guardians swing across Neomuna, while the subclass suspends enemies with web-like tendrils drawn from the Weave.

The Final Shape's 12-player finale, Excision, pits Guardians against which villain?

The Witness: Excision, a 12-player assault inside the Traveler, unlocked after the first team cleared the Salvation's Edge raid, which itself opened days after launch.

What is the name of The Final Shape's destination inside the Traveler?

The Pale Heart, the landscape inside the Traveler, echoes locations from across the series' history, and it is where the Vanguard reunites with the spirit of Cayde-6.

Which sixth subclass, added in The Final Shape, lets Guardians mix Light and Darkness abilities?

Prismatic draws supers and abilities from Void, Solar, Arc, Stasis and Strand at once, and filling its Transcendence meter briefly blends Light and Darkness.

Bungie's revived Marathon, unveiled in 2023, is what kind of game?

Extraction shooter: Bungie's Marathon revival, revealed in May 2023, sends squads of Runners to loot a map and fight to extract, the first new Marathon since 1996's Marathon Infinity.

Sparrows, the Guardians' personal vehicles, were noted for closely resembling which sci-fi rides?

Star Wars speeder bikes were the obvious model for Sparrows, the hovering bikes Guardians summon on patrol; Rise of Iron pre-orders even added the Iron Gjallarwing Sparrow.

The Grasp of Avarice dungeon from Bungie's 30th Anniversary Pack is set inside which infamous Destiny farming spot?

The Loot Cave, the Cosmodrome spot where launch-era players farmed endless enemy spawns, became the Grasp of Avarice entrance; its story follows a fireteam lured underground by Fallen promising riches.

Curse of Osiris centred on which procedurally generated Vex simulation inside Mercury?

The Infinite Forest, the Vex simulation beneath Mercury, was ruled by Panoptes, Infinite Mind, and its corridors were later reused for the Festival of the Lost Haunted Forest.

Which horde mode, startable by anyone in patrol on Mars, was added by the Warmind expansion?

Escalation Protocol, a seven-wave public horde activity in Mars' Hellas Basin, was Warmind's standout addition; the expansion's story centred on the AI Rasputin and the worm god Xol.

Which enemy faction introduced in The Final Shape was the first new race since Forsaken?

The Dread, including Grim, Husks and Subjugators, serve the franchise's chief villain alongside the Tormentors first seen in Lightfall.

What was the initial Light level cap in Destiny at launch, before The Dark Below raised it?

30 was the launch cap: experience stopped at level 20 and Light-bearing armour carried Guardians to 30, then 32 with The Dark Below and 34 with the following expansion.

Which December 2025 Destiny 2 expansion was themed around Star Wars, with crossover elements?

Renegades, the Star Wars-inspired expansion announced for December 2, 2025, was built as an official Lucasfilm Games crossover, complete with Star Wars-styled gear.

Which Guardian led the ill-fated Vault of Glass fireteam alongside Praedyth and Pahanin?

Kabr, the Legionless, was the Titan who led Praedyth and Pahanin into the Vault; he sacrificed himself to forge the Aegis relic, and only Pahanin escaped.

Roughly how many players did the original Destiny's public beta attract?

4.6 million players took part, Bungie said, after the beta opened on PlayStation from July 17 and Xbox from July 23 and closed at the end of that month.

Who was the final boss of Rise of Iron's Wrath of the Machine raid?

Aksis, Archon Prime, led the Devil Splicers' nanotech uprising, and his defeat beneath the Cosmodrome Wall ends Wrath of the Machine, which opened on September 23, 2016.

Which Guardian led the fireteam the Fallen lured into the Cosmodrome in Grasp of Avarice?

Wilhelm-7 led the doomed fireteam; the dungeon's lore has him descend into madness as his companions die one by one, until he finally perishes himself.

Which Hive Wizard is the Deathsinger fought in The Dark Below's raid?

Ir Yût, the Deathsinger, chants a lethal song that must be silenced in the raid's third encounter; The Dark Below's raid returned to Destiny 2 in September 2023.

How much did Chinese conglomerate NetEase invest in Bungie in 2018 for a minority stake and a board seat?

$100 million from NetEase, announced in June 2018, bought the Chinese firm a minority stake and a board seat, and helped fund Bungie's move to self-publishing.

Which studio joined Bungie and Activision on Destiny 2's development team in December 2016?

Vicarious Visions, the Activision-owned studio behind Skylanders, was announced as a Destiny 2 development partner in December 2016 and helped build the PC version.

What was the only thing that carried over from a Destiny character into Destiny 2?

Their physical appearance was all that transferred: characters that had hit level 20 and finished the Black Garden quest kept their looks, while veterans received commemorative emblems instead of gear.

Which game topped the 2017 US annual sales chart, finishing ahead of Destiny 2?

Call of Duty: WWII, also from Activision, was the NPD Group's best-selling game of 2017 in the United States, with Destiny 2 finishing among the year's top sellers.

Which Destiny 2 raid, launched with Forsaken, is set in the Dreaming City?

Last Wish opened in September 2018 in the Dreaming City and ends with Riven of a Thousand Voices, the last known Ahamkara.