Bungie announces delay of next major Destiny 2 update amid Marathon launch

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Destiny 2’s next big update has been pushed back three months, disappointing many players. This change in plans happens shortly before the release of Bungie’s new game, Marathon.

The team behind Halo is getting ready to release Marathon, a game they’ve been working on since 2021. Players will get a first look with a special test period, called a Server Slam, from February 26th to March 2nd. The complete game will then be available on March 5th.

Recently, Destiny 2 hasn’t been releasing content as frequently. After the major yearly expansions, especially ‘The Final Shape’ which wrapped up a decade of storylines, players haven’t had much new content to explore.

The last major addition to the game, called Renegades, came out on December 2, 2025, and was themed around Star Wars, but it didn’t really make a significant impact. Now, the next update – which is smaller than an expansion – has been delayed by three months, causing concern among players.

Destiny 2: Shadow and Order update delayed

The upcoming Shadow and Order update for Destiny 2 has been delayed. Originally planned for March 3, 2026, it will now launch on June 9, 2026 – a three-month postponement.

Delaying the update benefits Bungie by avoiding competition with their own Marathon game for player attention. They’ve also stated this extra time will allow them to further develop and improve the update.

We’re making some significant changes to our next major Destiny 2 update, originally called Shadow and Order, which means it will be released later than planned. We’re adding a lot of improvements to make the game experience better, and with these changes, we’ve decided to give the update a new name. You can now expect the update to launch on June 9, 2026.

— Destiny 2 (@DestinyTheGame) February 18, 2026

Bungie announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Shadow and Order is receiving significant updates. These changes include revisions to previously planned content and the addition of substantial improvements to the player experience.

As a result of the change in scope and the delay, the update is also set to be renamed.

Okay, so I’m super excited for the next Destiny 2 update! We’re getting a big revamp of Pantheon, which they’re calling Pantheon 2.0, and they’re adding tiered gear to every raid and dungeon – that’s awesome! But before that drops, we’ve still got Guardian Games happening in March, and Iron Banner will be back in April as usual, which is great to know. It’s good they’re keeping those events consistent while prepping the bigger stuff!

Many players worry that delaying the update will actually hurt the game more than help it, especially since interest has been fading recently. Destiny 2 was incredibly popular on Steam three years ago, reaching over 300,000 players at the same time. Now, the game usually peaks at under 14,000 concurrent players each day.

Since the next significant update is still months away – and it’s not even a new content release, just an update – a lot of people are feeling frustrated with how things are going.

Content creator Matics expressed frustration on X, stating that fans have been requesting updates for six months. He feels it’s incredibly frustrating to still have no information about the game’s future plans or overall direction of the franchise.

Content creator Fitzy expressed concern that a three-month wait for just an ‘update,’ and not a larger expansion, is quite worrying.

Another player said they hadn’t played Destiny for over six months and didn’t feel like they’d fallen behind.

However, the response on the Destiny subreddit is much more negative, with dedicated players worried about how long the game will stay popular, particularly after the release of the Marathon expansion.

One player wondered if anyone would still be playing the game by that point, while another predicted it would be completely finished and abandoned.

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2026-02-19 06:49