Why Destiny is on your PlayStation 4, even if you didn't buy it

Some PlayStation 4 owners were surprised to turn on their consoles today and find Destiny: The Taken King sitting alongside their other games on the system's dashboard, even if they hadn't purchased the game. But that's a feature, not a bug — and there's a way to prevent that from happening in the future.

Destiny: The Taken King is being pushed to PS4 owners this week through the system's automatic download settings. An icon for the game will show up on the system's home screen, which prompts players to purchase and download the game from the PlayStation Store.

The promotion is part of the PS4's "personalized, curated content," as described on PlayStation's official website.

The PS4 system has the ability to learn about your preferences. It will learn your likes and dislikes, allowing you to discover content pre-loaded and ready to go on your console in your favorite game genres or by your favorite creators.

By default, as of PS4 system software version 1.75, which was released in 2014, the console will "automatically add download links for featured content to the home screen," unless owners opt out of the feature. While Destiny: The Taken King is a big improvement on Bungie's earlier efforts, PS4 owners will probably want to turn this feature off. Here's how to do that:

From the PS4 home screen, go to Settings > scroll down to System > select Automatic Downloads > uncheck Featured Content

If the addition of The Taken King to your dashboard piqued your Destiny curiosity, check out Polygon's review of the game to see if it's worth the download.