Destinyfans who have been hoping for more competitive options inDestiny 2will likely be happy hearing this news.Destiny 2’s PvP playlists are getting split into casual and competitive playlists, to help players find the experience they are looking for.
Game director Luke Smith spoke with Game Informer explaining what kind of game modes could be found in each playlist:
“Quickplay is the place where you’re going to find more party games - Control, Clash, Supremacy [while] Competitive play has two modes - one we’re not talking about right now, and the other is Countdown. These are objective modes…”
Countdown is the new PvP modethat Bungie debuted at theDestiny 2Reveal Event, which is an attack-and-defend bomb planting mode that also has an Elimination element. The other objective mode could possibly be the rumored Trials of the Nine game mode that is rumored to be included inDestiny 2, although that could also be a special event just as Trials of Osiris is inDestiny 1—fans will have to wait and see until Bungie officially reveals the second mode.
There was no mention of whether the competitive playlist would also be ranked, a popular fan request, especially by those inthe competitive (or “sweats”) communityofDestiny. However, even if there is no ranking system, at least the bifurcation of PvP playlists will help players find the experience they are looking for.
Over the course ofDestiny 1, players have complained about “sweaty” matches; that is, players who want to have a more casual experience in PvP matchmaking against extremely competitive, highly-skilled players (or teams) in matches. While there’s nothing to stop teams from going into a casual playlist and still dominating against other teams, at least the definition of casual and competitive will lead players into the kind of matches they are looking to have.
Even Bungie seems to have struggled with what it wantsDestiny’s PvP to be, at times saying it isn’t a serious experience and meant to blow off steam at the end of the day, while at other times positioning itlike an eSportand encouraging high-level competitive play.
But it appears that Bungie is set to makeDestiny 2’s PvP a better offering for competitive play. To add to this news of a competitive playlist,Destiny 2has also changed tomaking all PvP game modes 4v4in line with most other competitive shooters. The new weapon system also seems to be designed with PvP in mind, to overcome some of the imbalance that is present inDestiny 1.
There’s sure to be more news coming in the future about the PvP landscape ofDestiny 2, but it’s honestly good news for everyone that Bungie is looking to help filter players into the Crucible experience they are looking for.
Destiny 2launches July 30, 2025 on PS4 and Xbox One, with release on PC at a later unannounced date.
