Bungie is retooling Destiny 2’s PvP this fall, teasing the return of Trials

Destiny franchise director Luke Smith spelled out major changes for Destiny 2: Shadowkeep’s player-versus-player modes in his final Director’s Cut blog post on Friday.

Destiny 2’s multiplayer playlists are changing completely. Quickplay and Competitive are being replaced with more specific activities. The new Classic Mix playlist will thread players into different modes like Control, Clash, and Supremacy.

Competitive players can only earn Glory through the 3v3 Survival mode with friends or the Survival Solo Queue playlist. 6v6 Control will be its own playlist as well, and Bungie intends to treat it as the jumping off point for new PvPers. Each week will also feature a rotating playlist for 6v6 players and 4v4 players. Current rotators include Clash, Supremacy, Mayhem, Lockdown, and Countdown.

The PvP team at Bungie is also removing some maps from the playlist — specifically ones Smith calls “underperforming.” While some maps are going away, the studio will revitalize original Destiny maps Widow’s Court and Twilight Gap.

Smith also mentioned the return of the old Trials of Osiris game mode, Elimination (not Trials of Osiris itself). While unfinished, Elimination will sit in the Crucible Labs playlist for players to test and try out. Smith mentioned that he has no doubt it will eventually find a “warmer” home.

Through his PvP section — the use of warmer being a very specific nod to the Trials of Osiris Lighthouse on Mercury — Smith teases the return of the highly competitive multiplayer activity: Trials. Earlier in his post, he mentions that “Trials of the Nine” will not return to Destiny 2, using italics to emphasis the theme of the Nine not returning, rather than the mode itself. While we don’t have a timeline, it seems that Trials of Osiris will likely return to Destiny 2 sometime soon.

Bungie will also change how matchmaking groups players together by skill. Smith mentioned that players too often find themselves in very tight, contested matches for long periods of time or in a one-sided slaughter. With Shadowkeep, the team intends to create a better variety of matches for players during a single play session.

Bungie will release Destiny 2: Shadowkeep and New Light on Oct. 1 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. The Google Stadia version will come later this year when it becomes available.