Can Destiny 2 convincingly borrow another franchise’s DNA and still feel like its own game? With Renegades—Bungie’s full-blown Star Wars–flavored expansion—the studio tried exactly that. The result is equal parts audacious fan service and a mirror held up to Destiny’s deeper problems.
A bold experiment — and how it landed
Renegades isn’t a cosmetic pack. It’s a paid expansion that leans hard into a space‑opera aesthetic: lightsabers you can throw, battery‑powered blasters that overheat instead of consuming ammo, walker enemies inspired by AT‑STs, and a Death Star‑style superweapon called Nightfall Station. Critics who enjoyed it praised how well Bungie captured the Star Wars vibe without slapping on a franchise logo — the missions that riff on classic set pieces, the swashbuckling music, and a handful of genuinely compelling characters were singled out as highlights.
That same willingness to borrow, however, exposed an awkward truth: Renegades at best feels like “good Star Wars” and only an okay Destiny 2. For new or returning players, Bungie’s ongoing turbulence with progression systems — especially the backlash from the Edge of Fate overhaul earlier in the year — still makes onboarding confusing. Reviewers described a middle campaign that stutters, and a new Lawless Frontier mode that’s fun but feels engineered as repeatable, low‑narrative activity rather than a natural place to teach players the expansion’s bigger ideas.
The split reaction: nostalgia vs. fatigue
Reception has been mixed in the player base. Some appreciate the franchise crossover as a breath of fresh air after a long period of predictable Destiny storytelling; others see it as proof Bungie is leaning on gimmicks instead of solving core issues. IGN described Renegades as “a bit cringey, but it works,” while Io9/Gizmodo praised how the expansion nailed the Star Wars feeling even as Destiny’s systemic warts persisted.
Commercially, the launch hasn’t set records. SteamDB data shows Renegades posted the lowest peak concurrent player count for a Destiny expansion on Steam so far — a sobering contrast to past launches like Lightfall or Shadowkeep. Low launch numbers don’t map perfectly to quality, but they do reflect either waning player interest, friction from recent system changes, or both.
Bungie’s new rule: cosmetics are fine, cross‑brand expansions are not
Behind the scenes, Bungie seems to have taken a clear position. According to reporting from a journalist flown out for a preview event, Bungie told him it’s not planning further full expansion crossovers like Renegades. The studio still plans to do gear and cosmetic tie‑ins with other IPs (the Eververse model that brings Mass Effect, The Witcher, and other ornaments to Guardians will continue), but the era of paid expansions built around another franchise appears to be a one‑off.
That fits a pragmatic reading: cosmetics are low risk and lucrative; building whole narrative expansions with another company’s IP is expensive, complicated and — if the Steam numbers are any guide — not a guaranteed player acquisition engine. Datamines have also teased cosmetic crossovers with Bungie’s own upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, which suggests Bungie will keep using its own catalog to cross‑pollinate rather than regularly inviting outside worlds into Destiny.
Numbers, platforms, and the wider market
Low Steam peaks for Renegades underline a wider puzzle: live service titles live or die by long‑term engagement, not just opening weekend flash. Platform and storefront dynamics matter too — console performance can mask PC slumps and vice versa. With platform features like cross‑buy and cross‑platform incentives becoming louder conversation points in the industry, how players access and stick with expansions will keep influencing developer strategy; the debate around cross‑buy icons on PlayStation and PC hinted at in recent datamines speaks to that larger context and why launch numbers alone don’t tell the whole story (cross‑buy icon leak).
If you’re watching new shooters for signal alongside Destiny’s pivot, this year’s slate of extraction and multiplayer launches offers relevant comparisons. Fresh competitors and new ideas — like the recent extraction title buzzed about by players and press — are just part of why Bungie’s choices matter right now (Arc Raiders launch and context).
Where this leaves players and Bungie
For players, Renegades is a transaction: if you love space opera flourishes and don’t mind some Destiny baggage, there’s a lot to enjoy. If you were hoping the crossover would also fix years‑long progression and engagement problems, you’ll probably leave with mixed feelings. Bungie’s own admissions — that some recent changes “didn’t work” and that 2025 has been rough for the live game — mean the studio is listening and iterating, even as it narrows the scope of future crossovers.
If you’re on the fence about diving back in and thinking about hardware to play on, recent console cycles mean upgrades can help smooth the experience; buyers looking to pick up a console now might consider the PlayStation 5 Pro if they want higher fidelity play (PlayStation 5 Pro Console) available on Amazon.
Renegades will likely be remembered as a creative high‑risk experiment: remarkable for how convincingly it borrowed a beloved aesthetic, and revealing for how brittle the rest of Destiny 2’s live‑service scaffolding still is. Bungie appears to have learned one thing from the gamble — big crossovers are flashy, but the safest long roadmap for Destiny will stick closer to home and monetize flavor through cosmetics rather than entire story expansions.