Destiny

Destiny is an online first-person shooter created by Bungie and published by Activision, released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 9, 2014. It was Bungie’s first major new franchise after its separation from Microsoft and the Halo series. The game places players in a far-future Solar System where humanity survives beneath the Traveler, a vast spherical machine that arrived during humanity’s Golden Age. The Traveler’s presence enabled enormous advances in technology and human lifespan, but an invasion known as the Collapse devastated civilization and left the Traveler dormant above Earth’s Last City.

Players control Guardians, resurrected protectors animated by the Traveler’s Light. Each Guardian is accompanied by a Ghost, a small artificial intelligence that revives its chosen partner and provides navigation, scanning, and dialogue support. At launch, players selected among three classes: Titan, Hunter, and Warlock. Titans emphasized armor and defense, Hunters mobility and precision, and Warlocks Light-based abilities. The original game also offered three playable species: Human, Awoken, and Exo.

Destiny’s campaign sent Guardians to reclaim locations across Earth, the Moon, Venus, and Mars while fighting the Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal. Its central early threat was the Black Garden, a Vex-linked location reached through the Glassway on Venus. The base game’s story culminated in the destruction of the Black Heart, an entity associated with the Darkness that had weakened the Traveler.

A defining part of Destiny was its shared-world structure: players encountered others in public patrol areas, joined three-person Strikes, and formed six-person Fireteams for raids. Vault of Glass, released shortly after launch, became its first raid and introduced Atheon, Time’s Conflux, as its final boss. Later raids included Crota’s End, King’s Fall, and Wrath of the Machine. Destiny also featured competitive Crucible modes overseen by Lord Shaxx and the weekly Iron Banner event led by Lord Saladin.

The game expanded through four major releases: The Dark Below in 2014, House of Wolves in 2015, The Taken King in 2015, and Rise of Iron in 2016. The Taken King was especially significant, adding the Dreadnaught destination and focusing on Oryx, the Taken King, following the death of his son Crota. Destiny’s original live service concluded as Bungie shifted its continuing narrative into Destiny 2, released in 2017.