On its blog today, Destiny 2 creator Bungie announced a price increase for its standalone season passes, which grant players access to limited-time activities and story content every three months.
Going forward, Bungie will ask Destiny 2 players to pay 20% more each season, up from 1,000 Silver (an in-game premium currency that costs real money) to 1,200 Silver — from $10 to $12 per season.
Bungie simultaneously announced it will charge 10% more for its season pass rank bundles, which speed up the process of maxing out each season’s loot-filled progress bar. This increase will see the +10 Ranks Bundle go from 2,000 Silver to 2,200 Silver (or $20 to $22).
While this will impact anyone who has been buying season passes in Destiny a la carte, the price increase does not affect those who already bought the full year of seasonal access via the deluxe version of Destiny 2: Lightfall – at least not until the next major expansion currently slated for next year: The Final Shape.
“Our teams continue to invest in crafting compelling Seasonal experiences in the year of Lightfall.
No reason was offered for the price increase, other than the developer stating, “This will be the new pricing for Season Passes in Lightfall’s year for those looking to maximize their rewards with each new Season, and we’ll be evaluating new approaches to post-lauch content in the year of The Final Shape.” Bungie also pointed to renewed investment in seasonal content: “…our teams continue to invest in crafting compelling Seasonal experiences for the year of Lightfall…”
Though the cost of seasonal content has always been very low, especially for players who buy it all up front with the annual expansion bundles, there has also been ongoing debate about the quality of that content, which often relies on repetitive activities and re-issued weapons and armor from previous expansions or iterations of Destiny. Hopefully this increased price and a pledge to invest in seasonal content means we’ll be getting 20% more out of Bungie’s live-service pipeline.
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.