Destiny 2 will launch for PC, characters may be left behind - reports

Destiny 2 will launch for PC as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, according to multiple reports.

Bungie's shared-world shooter sequel remains unannounced but is expected for release next autumn. It had been scheduled for this month, before suffering the same 12-month delay that befell Destiny 1.

A new Kotaku report on Destiny 2's development suggests much may now be left behind when players make the jump to the sequel - up to and including player characters, which fans have poured hundreds of hours into.

This dramatic decision flies in the face of Bungie's original plan for a single character staying with players for a full decade - through sequels and expansion packs and DLC.

It may now be necessary to leave everything from Destiny 1 behind, the report suggests, to meet Bungie's lofty new ambitions for the sequel.

Destiny 2 was largely rebooted after a major reshuffle at Bungie earlier this year, which is when Bungie long-term boss Howard Ryan suddenly parted ways with the company. Work on Destiny 2 is now headed up by Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, who lead development on last year's excellent The Taken King expansion.

PC development has now been confirmed, opening the game up to a far wider audience. PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms are long forgotten (this month's Rise of Iron was the first add-on to leave them behind). Destiny 2's story has apparently been rebooted. And Destiny's finnicky world-building toolset is getting upgraded.

Destiny 2 will apparently feature areas with both social and gunplay elements, so there will be no need to head out to a separate location via a menu. "Towns" and "outposts" are mentioned in the report. Removing the boundary between these spaces will mean less waiting time in menus and on loading screens for players, and less stress on the game's servers.

An astonishing number of people are now thought to be working on Destiny 2 (and have been for some time, as Rise of Iron is the product of the small Destiny 1 live team). Bungie employs around 750 staff, the vast majority of whom are building the sequel. The developer has also roped in fellow studios High Moon and Vicarious Visions for extra manpower. A previous report pegged High Moon as working on a new area set on Mars.

Via a post on NeoGAF, serial industry tipster Shinobi has also confirmed PC development for Destiny 2 and chipped in with some further details, primarily that Destiny 1 may be kept as its own separate client forever.

One possibility, still to be decided, would see Destiny 1 areas rebuilt in Destiny 2's framework and re-introduced later, perhaps as the stage for new events and story, adapted or expanded with the sequel's social/playspace mechanic.

As for Destiny 2's story, the Mars-based Cabal and Saturn will apparently feature. This would tie into a tease during The Taken King's story of a signal being sent to the Cabal homeworld.

Apart from the already-announced Halloween and Sparrow Racing events this year, it sounds like Destiny 1 content may be sparse as the live team still supporting it are using tools now abandoned by the rest of the studio.

Rise of Iron was originally intended for this spring, Shinobi stated, although it is not known how much it was expanded for release as an expansion this month.

All the while, Bungie must continue to fund Destiny as an ongoing service, hence Rise of Iron's promotion to a full expansion this month and the continual - and growing - presence of Destiny microtransactions.