Bungie plan to have a new non-Destiny game out by 2025

Bungie are busy today with the launch of Destiny 2's free-to-play edition and the new expansion, Shadowkeep, but it's not all Destiny round Washington way. The gang who also made Halo and Marathon have said they plan to have something new-new and non-Destiny out by 2025. I thought that sounded at least 17 years away but I'm now told 2025 is in barely 5 years and EXCUSE ME? Did the tensies just not happen? Did we go straight from noughties to nineteen? Anyway. New-new Bungie game. Mysterious. Unknown. By 2025. Which could be tomorrow for all I know. Maybe the new game's out now. Is it any good? Help me out.

"Our vision ultimately through 2025 is to become one of the world's best entertainment companies," CEO Pete Parsons told the Ian Games Network. That's an empty phrase alright but one with a plan behind it.

On top of "transforming Destiny," which has a multi-year plan of its own starting today, they want something else. Parsons told Ian that "by 2025 we have a pretty specific path to make sure we transform Destiny and that we have other franchises within the marketplace" and that "We need to build our publishing group, but part of our vision is also to become a multi-franchise entertainment company."

Multi-franchise. Gotcha. I hear you. Bungie haven't worked on Halo in years, remember; Microsoft own it and their 343 Studios team have been in charge since Halo 4.

Bungie have spoken before about wanting more on the go, most notably in 2018 after announcing an investment from Chinese publishers NetEase. Now we have some sort of timeline.

I'm game. I didn't really know Bungie because their games have mostly been on consoles I didn't have or came to PC in ports my computer couldn't run, but I fell hard for Destiny 2. Big sci-fi landscapes and spectacle paired with satisfying shooty-shoots? Yeah gwan.

Destiny's next load of sci-fi spectacle is coming with a return to the moon in Shadowkeep, which launches today at 6pm. They're also making base Destiny 2 free-to-play today, offering the original game, its first two expansions, and some places and modes from later add-ons to all for free. Further expansions will still cost cash, as will the Season Passes spanning the gap between expansions. The game's also moving from Battle.net to Steam. Big day.