All You Need to Know About Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

Destiny 2 — the popular free-to-play online-only multiplayer first-person shooter — is now in its fifth year and will soon receive its sixth expansion with Destiny 2: The Witch Queen this week. The Witch Queen expansion pack brings a new location in Savathûn’s Throne World along with new maps, weapons, mission, and a lot more. Along with a single-player campaign, the standard Destiny 2 game has co-op modes — Strikes and Raids — and also Crucible that allows for player versus player (PvP) combat. Developed by Destiny 2 maker Bungie itself, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen will be available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

With that, here’s everything you need to know about the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion pack.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen release date

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion pack will be released on Tuesday, February 22. The game is expected to unlock at 11:30pm IST (10am PT). Since this is a concurrent worldwide release, Indian gamers will be able to play the expansion pack for Destiny 2 at the same time as their global counterparts.

The expansion pack was slated to release in 2021, but got delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Is Destiny 2: The Witch Queen on Steam?
The latest expansion pack for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available to pre-order on Steam.

Is Destiny 2: The Witch Queen on Xbox Game Pass?
Yes and no. Destiny 2 and its current expansion packs — Forsaken, Shadowkeep, and Beyond Light — left Xbox Game Pass back in December. However, the game and its expansion packs are available to PC Game Pass subscribers — that’s Xbox Game Pass for PC.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen editions

Bungie is offering its next major Destiny 2 expansion in three editions — a base version, The Witch Queen Deluxe Edition, and The Witch Queen Deluxe Edition + 30th Anniversary Pack. The game celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Bungie’s incorporation back in 1991.

In the standard expansion pack, players will get a new location — Savathûn’s Throne World — along with weapon crafting, new glaive weapon archetype, new Raid mode, new exotic gear, and a new six-player activity.

Deluxe Edition customers will get all that — plus an exotic SMG weapon, Catalyst, and Ornament. A Catalyst is a special weapon modifier for exotic weapons that improve and upgrade a weapon. On the other hand, an Ornament is used to change the appearance of a weapon. Alongside these, Deluxe Edition players get access to Destiny 2 Seasons 16, 17, 18, and 19, two dungeons released in the ongoing Year 5, and Throne World Exotic Sparrow — a land-based vehicle in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Bungie’s incorporation
Photo Credit: Bungie

The 30th Anniversary Edition buyers will get access to a new dungeon, Gjallarhorn Exotic Rocket Launcher, Catalyst, and Ornament, new weapons inspired by past Bungie worlds, Descending Echo armour set, Bungie streetwear ornament set, Marathon-themed ornament set, a unique helmet ornament, exotic sparrows, exotic ship, along with emblems, shaders, emotes, and more.

Lastly, all players who pre-order Destiny 2: The Witch Queen will gain access to Throne World exotic ghost shell, the Enigma exotic emote, and a legendary emblem. Ghost shells are cosmetic upgrades for Ghosts — small floating machines used to locate and resurrect deceased players.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen price

On Xbox Store, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is priced at Rs. 2,199 for the Standard Edition, Rs. 4,399 for the Deluxe Edition, and Rs. 5,499 for the 30th Anniversary Edition. This price is for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

PC gamers can get a much better rate on Steam, thanks to Valve’s regional pricing support.
Steam lists Destiny 2: The Witch Queen at Rs. 899, Rs. 1,799, and Rs. 2,499 for the Standard, Deluxe, and 30th Anniversary editions, respectively.

On PlayStation Store, the new Destiny 2 expansion pack starts at Rs. 2,599 for the Standard Edition. The Deluxe and 30th Anniversary Editions are priced at Rs. 5,199 and Rs. 6,499, respectively. This price applies to PS4 and PS5 owners.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen PC system requirements

Here are the minimum and recommended specification requirements for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen for PC players, via Steam.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen minimum PC requirements

• Processor: AMD FX-4350 or Intel Core i3-3250
• GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7850 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
• RAM: 6GB
• VRAM: 2GB

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen recommended PC requirements

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5-1600X or Intel Core i5-2400 or Core i5-7400
• GPU: AMD Radeon R9 390 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or GeForce GTX 1060
• RAM: 8GB
• VRAM: 8GB (AMD) or 4GB (Geforce GTX 970) or 6GB (GeForce GTX 1060)

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen supports Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. There’s no official word on Windows 11 support, though I imagine it will work given the common infrastructure. Players would require a minimum of 105GB free space to install Destiny 2: The Witch Queen.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen gets new maps, weapons, and more
Photo Credit: Bungie

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen preload, download size

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen’s download size has not been revealed by Bungie yet. We will update this article once we know more.

To prepare for the new expansion, Destiny 2 will go offline February 21 at 6:45pm PT — that’s February 22 at 8:15am IST.

Pre-load will be available 15 minutes later, starting February 22 at 8:30am IST / February 21 at 7pm PT. Destiny 2 will be brought back to life February 22 at 10:30pm IST / 9am PT.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen gameplay

As per the gameplay trailer released last August, The Witch Queen expansion pack really seems to build upon the existing gameplay of Destiny 2, which is unsurprising. It does have new maps, new weapons, the ability to craft new weapons, and a whole new location. Expect the expansion pack to feel the same as the game, albeit with some new elements.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen review

Back when we reviewed Destiny 2 in 2017, we handed it a 7 on 10 rating. In our review, we said the game has amazing music, fantastic gunplay, and slick visuals. However, the pay-to-win microtransactions were irritating.

Reviews for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen are expected to be available in the week of release. At the time of writing, no impressions were available — so it remains to be seen how the new expansion pack fares with reviewers and players when it is released on February 22.