Destiny 2’s next big thing, Codename: Apollo, is ‘nonlinear’ and it has no timegates

Things are happening in Destinyland, folks. Bungie recently published a huge new blog discussing the future of Destiny 2 from 2025 onwards, and it’s nothing if not promising. 2025’s first paid DLC, Codename: Apollo, is particularly interesting as it’s supposed to be a “nonlinear” experience, of all things.

Historically, Destiny 2‘s paid annual DLCs have always followed the same format. You get an extremely impressive first mission followed up with a series of bespoke one-off content interspersed with Patrol activities, Strikes, and other repeatable stuff. Then, after loading up your power level and/or grinding an appropriately high level of gear, you jump into the final mission that’s sometimes equally as impressive as the intro. Cue the outro cutscene, and you’re done. According to Bungie, Destiny 2: Apollo is going to be a nonlinear experience instead, taking place “over dozens of threads you’ll explore and discover.” Interesting stuff.

Destiny 2: Apollo may be the game’s biggest DLC shake-up yet

“Previously, in stories like The Final Shape, you experienced the story as A to B to C to D in a nice straight line,” Bungie explains in its recent blog post. “[In Apollo], when you land on our brand new location, the story starts at A, and then you can choose if you want to explore C first, or try and get into B, or maybe investigate D.”

The bits that you don’t explore on your first go through the campaign are, supposedly, going to stick around for exploration later on. It’s a curious take on the Destiny formula, for sure, and I am genuinely excited at the prospect of giving this a shot: “The order in which you explore will be something you choose, but we have built Codename: Apollo in a way the story always makes sense and flows from beginning to middle to end. There’s no time gating, no waiting for the next drop, Codename: Apollo’s story unfolds based on player progression,” says the blog post.

Now, while Bungie seemingly eager to try out this brave new approach to the core Destiny fantasy, it’s not something that’s going to be set in stone for the next yearly DLC, Behemoth. Specifically, Bungie says that “this shift to nonlinear stories isn’t something we’re locking ourselves into, but it is the structure that fits Codename: Apollo best.” In other words, this may well end up being a one-off that doesn’t pan out in the long run.

As it stands, it’s way, way too early to tell whether Bungie is onto something with this approach. Personally, I’m all for it, but the specifics are going to be what makes or breaks Apollo‘s nonlinear take on Destiny gameplay. Story-wise, it is some promising stuff though: “Apollo ends with the narrative gasoline that will propel us into the next few years with a clear theme, goal, and a destination that won’t come at you as a straight line but will be well-worth the trip,” Bungie promises. “It’ll reward you, it’ll surprise you, and it’ll take us places Destiny has never seen before.”