Bungie announced today that the Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2 will be vaulted, or removed from the game entirely, in early 2022 when the new Destiny 2 DLC The Witch Queen releases. The announcement has upset fans of the game, as Forsaken has ranked among the best-reviewed expansions for Destiny 2 since the DLC's release.
The company had previously stated that Forsaken would be vaulted at some point, and it will not mark the first time that content has been removed from the game. During the first round of content vaulting, the base campaign was removed from the game along with its first two expansions The Curse of Osiris and Warmind. Many of the zones, raids, and planets that went with that content were removed as well and became completely inaccessible for both new players and veterans that already owned the content. Some older content has since been brought back, however, including the Cosmodrome area and the Vault of Glass raid from the original Destiny.
In the recent announcement that Forsaken would be relegated to the Content Vault, Bungie confirmed that the entire campaign along with the whole of the Tangled Shore zone would become unavailable. Players will be able to experience the campaign for free from December 7 until it is officially removed in February 2022. The developer also announced that once the expansion is vaulted, it will sell a Forsaken Pack as a standalone DLC that contains the Last Wish raid, the Shattered Throne dungeon, and the Exotic gear from the DLC. The pack will be free for players who already own Forsaken when it's vaulted.
Bungie's statement also confirmed that much of the seasonal content from Year 4 of Destiny 2, including the Presage and Harbinger exotic missions, would be vaulted as well. In its announcement, the company stated that this vaulting will make room for the content planned for Year 5, the new Witch Queen expansion in particular. A new location called the Throne World is known to be coming in the DLC, along with new equipment and a weapon crafting mechanic.
Destiny 2 might have a lot of new content on the way, but it doesn't change the fact that much of the game will be taken away when Forsaken gets vaulted. Fans of the game are upset that they will no longer have access to DLC that they previously paid for, and new players will likely be confused by the plot as vital storylines will be gone from Destiny 2 entirely. The new expansion will need to be impressive to keep players invested after the Content Vault has made so much of the game completely inaccessible.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen will release on 22 February 2022, available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Google Stadia, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Source: Bungie