Is Destiny 2 Still Free?

fortressofsolitude.co.za:

Destiny 2 became free-to-play when developer Bungie split off from publisher Activision to become an independent studio.

Two years later, Destiny 2 is still technically free-to-play (F2P). However, many are quick to criticize it, and some go as far as to call it pay-to-win. But is Destiny 2 truly free-to-play? How does it compare to other free-to-play shooters such as Apex Legends or Valorant?

Destiny 2 is perhaps the only AAA modern game to actively delete and remove entire parts of its experience. In a process that is called the “Destiny Content Vault”, or DVC in short, Bungie routinely removes entire campaigns and locations from the live game.

Generally speaking, the Destiny community is not a fan of the DCV. Some of the best Destiny 2 experiences, including secret Exotic missions and campaign missions, are no longer playable. And that is a damn shame.

However, the DCV was particularly bad for free-to-play gamers. Previously, the entire Red War campaign from the base game and two separate DLCs, Curse of Osiris and Warmind, were part of the free-to-play package. These were excellent at introducing new players to the Destiny universe too, especially the Red War campaign. But those were removed from the game and put into the DCV in 2020.

These days, free-to-play gamers have to contempt with an extremely short and mediocre “New Light” introductory quest. Needless to say, it does a poor job at welcoming new players into the game. As soon as the quest is over, it’s up to players to figure out what to do next. And as many parts of the game are paid, the experience becomes even more confusing overall. Unless they have a friend willing to teach them the core mechanics and gameplay loops, they soon feel overwhelmed and