Destiny 2 details changes coming with PC open beta

It's a shame that the PC release of Destiny 2 [official site] is coming later than its console counterparts, but at least our version does sound the best. And sure, our open beta test is late too -- it comes at the end of August, one month after the console beta -- but that'll be better to. Bungie have detailed all the changes they've made since the console beta, including reworked matchmaking, balance tweaks, and exploit fixes. Slow and steady, chums.

The list of fixes includes glitches with infinite supers, infinite grenades, and Warlocks gliding. PvE play will have more Power ammo drops and more grenade damage. And competitive matchmaking and play are being tweaked. As Crucible design lead Lars Bakken explains:

"Quickplay
Matchmaking times will be shorter, with less emphasis on Skill. This is the fastest route to a game, but you may face opponents outside of your comfort zone. The winning score in Control has been extended from 75 to 100 to allow for more time to play and use your abilities. Because too many matches were shorter than we expected (some Guardians weren’t even able charge their Super) we've extended the trigger for the Mercy rule so it will come into play less often.

"Competitive
Matchmaking takes more time to introduce you to players that are closer to you in skill with a good connection. These matchmaking settings may take longer, but we feel that the quality of the gameplay experience will be worth the wait. We have also made improvements to the way we calculate your skill in Countdown to better reflect how you’ll perform against your opponents."

Earlier this week, Bungie revealed that lots of common gaming software won't work properly with Destiny 2 on PC, as part of their plan to block potential cheats. Software with screen overlays like the "who's talking" notifications of Mumble and Discord won't work, for starters. Recording and screen capture software including OBS and Fraps won't work in all screen modes too, though Nvidia and AMD's own built-in capturing should be fine. This is all a bit of a bother, though the cause is good.

"The methods that some third-party applications use to add features (inserting code into the game client) are the same as some of the methods hackers and cheaters use to disrupt the experience of other players. As a part of our security efforts, we have designed Destiny 2 for PC to resist all attempts from external applications to insert code into the game client."

Whether it does actually stop cheats remains to be seen (those naughty cheaters are a persistent and ingenious bunch) but a little inconvenience seems a fair trade in theory. And for people who like little overlays displaying their framerate, Destiny 2 will have a built-in option counter for that.

I think that's us about caught up on Destiny 2 PC goings-on. Our open beta starts on August 29th, and the full launch is due on October 24th.