Bungie has angered fans by announcing that new dungeons coming with the upcoming Witch Queen expansion will only be available as standalone purchases, or as part of Deluxe Editions.
As explained by community manager Cozmo23 on Reddit, standard edition copies of The Witch Queen and Year 5 season passes will not include the three new dungeons coming down the line. Instead, two dungeons will be part of the Digital Deluxe edition ($79.99 USD / £69.99), with a third dungeon coming alongside the Digital Deluxe + Bungie's 30th Anniversary Bundle ($99.99 USD / £87.99).
The dungeons will also be made available as standalone purchases. "We will also be offering a separate way for you to purchase the Dungeons in the future," explained Cozmo23, "but they will not be included in the Season passes."
Destiny 2 hasn't parcelled out its dungeons in this way previously, previously including them as part of expansion releases or as free updates. Bungie might argue that releasing three dungeons in close proximity – Destiny 2 has previously had only three other new dungeons in its lifetime – requires a different approach to release, but fans aren't pleased with the news.
Cozmo23's post has just passed -2000 downvotes, reportedly the most downvoted comment on all of Reddit yesterday. The replies have been expectedly scathing: Radiolotek said, "Cosmo, I hope you pass on the disgust from the community on this. It's atrocious. I know Bungie doesn't care about us, but damn man. This is straight up scum."
Many have pointed to Bungie's previous statements about introducing microtransactions with the Eververse, which said that they help the studio "to fund creative efforts we otherwise couldn't afford." As lurker-no-lurking said, "Oof. So what does Eververse fund again? You have to walk this back. It’s getting really expensive to play your game."
It's another cause for friction between Bungie and its fans after introducing a much-maligned transmog system, and scheduling the removal of the game's Forsaken campaign.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].