Is a Destiny mobile game on the way? Destiny Rising rumors explained

The Destiny 2 community is ablaze with rumors that Bungie is developing a mobile game, here’s what we know so far about the apparent title, allegedly named Destiny Rising.

Destiny is in a bit of a rough spot, with players’ hopes for the franchise waning after the announcement of layoffs and key content changes. The huge pivots since Final Shape have left players wondering just what Bungie has in store for the future of their beloved looter shooter.

Rumors have surfaced on the internet about a new mobile Destiny game in collaboration with NetEase. But is it actually happening? Here’s what we know.

Destiny mobile game rumors

Back in 2022, there were rumors that developers NetEase would be working together with Bungie to create a Destiny mobile FPS game. According to The Game Post, the project had been in development for “well over two years now” when these reports were revealed. The game was internally codenamed “Viper”.

Destiny Rising

Fast forward to 2024 after the massive Bungie layoffs, and as a result of this huge reduction in staff, Bungie decided to dial back the amount of content in Destiny 2 as well as canceled plans to create another spinoff title called “Payback”.

However, video game insider Kurakasis posted on X (formerly Twitter) that despite the major changes at the studio, the mobile game project is still very much underway and has not been canceled. If the rumors from back in 2022 are correct, the game has been in development for around four years.

According to fellow insider Jeff Grubb, the game’s development is being led by NetEase, and instead of Guardians, you’ll have Hero characters.

Grubb also said that the game itself will be just like Destiny but on mobile devices, and that it “could get announced soon.”

Bungie’s involvement

Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb also revealed that not many people from Bungie are working on Destiny Rising, with a significant amount of the development being led by NetEase. Bungie was originally much more involved with the production of the game and even attempted to renegotiate the contract with NetEase to establish a co-development partnership. However, when these negotiations failed, Bungie stepped back from the project significantly.

According to Grubb, Bungie’s contribution mainly comes in the form of providing Narrative and Support, offering visual assets, and lending around five or six staff members to assist on the project.

New website and social media accounts hint at imminent reveal

The registration and creation of multiple social media accounts have hinted at Destiny Rising being revealed in the near future.

As reported by TheGamePost, on August 21, 2024, the web domain playdestinyrising.com was registered. The registration details show it was registered by broker MarkMonitor Inc., the same broker used for other NetEase titles Naraka: Bladepoint.

On top of that, new social media accounts tied to Destiny Rising have popped up on multiple major platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The accounts are using the handle “PlayDestinyRising” which is consistent with the earlier registered domain name. These accounts were made on August 22, 2024, just one day after the domain was registered.

An X or Twitter account was made under the handle _DestinyRising, and while the profile remains private, blacked-out pictures and banners suggest that they are placeholders for a future announcement. All of these point to the possibility that Destiny Rising may be revealed imminently.

Destiny Rising gameplay details

According to TheGamePost, Destiny Rising will be a third-person shooter and include a variety of game modes that should feel at home with any Destiny fan.

As per usual, there will be activities like PvP, story missions, and strikes, with the gunplay closely mirroring its PC and Console counterpart. TheGamePost also reported that a new raid was being worked on, but it’s uncertain if this is still the case, due to the information being old.

Bungie

Destiny Rising will feature similar activities to Destiny, including strikes and story missions.

Instead of Guardians, Destiny Rising will feature hero characters, these characters will be predefined, some of whom will be completely new, while others may be familiar faces from the franchise.

Destiny 2 community in disarray

With claims the Destiny mobile game is still in active development, much of the community was saddened by the news, and many were also in disbelief.

“This is extremely sad. Everyone should pour one out for us Bungie vets that fell in love with a different company,” one player cried out.

“The ship was already mostly sunk and then hit by a torpedo,” another mourned.

As of this writing, Bungie has yet to officially announce a new title, meaning we don’t know fully what the developers have up their sleeves. Take everything here with a grain of salt for the time being, as plans can, and often do, change throughout development.