| Destiny 2: Forsaken | |
|---|---|
 Cover art featuring a Guardian carrying the corpse of Cayde-6 | |
| Developer(s) | Bungie |
| Publisher(s) | Activision (2018–2019) Bungie (2019–present) |
| Director(s) | Scott Taylor |
| Producer(s) | Christopher Barrett |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Series | Destiny |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | September 4, 2018 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, first-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Destiny 2: Forsaken was a major expansion for Destiny 2, a first-person shooter video game by Bungie. Representing the third expansion and the second year of extended content for Destiny 2, it was released on September 4, 2018. Forsaken revolved around the player's Guardian seeking to avenge the death of Cayde-6 by the hands of the Awoken Prince Uldren Sov. Uldren, corrupted by the Darkness, was in search of his lost sister, Queen Mara Sov, both of whom were thought to have died in Destiny: The Taken King (2015). Along their journey, players faced the Scorn, undead versions of the Fallen race that had been revived and morphed into a new race.
Forsaken added content across the game, including new missions, Player versus Environment locations, Player versus Player maps, player gear, weaponry, a brand new PvE/PvP hybrid game mode, and a new raid. The expansion also introduced the game's first dungeon, a new challenging three-player activity. A seasonal model was also introduced, in which smaller content packages were released periodically throughout the year between the releases of the major expansions. The seasonal model would continue until The Final Shape (2024), which replaced the seasons with larger episodes.
Upon the expansion's release, retailers also issued Destiny 2: Forsaken Legendary Collection, which included the Destiny 2 base game, Forsaken, and the previous two expansions, Curse of Osiris and Warmind. An Annual Pass was also released alongside the expansion, which granted access to the seasonal content for Year 2 of the game: Season of the Forge in December 2018, Season of the Drifter in March 2019, and Season of Opulence in June 2019—this seasonal content, however, was removed from the game with the release of Beyond Light in November 2020, with the exception of Gambit Prime from Season of the Drifter, which replaced the standard three-round version of Gambit that was originally added with Forsaken.
Upon the release of The Witch Queen expansion in February 2022, Forsaken's campaign and the Tangled Shore destination were removed from the game as part of a developer initiative called the "Destiny Content Vault". Ahead of its removal, Forsaken's campaign was made free-to-play in December 2021. Simultaneously, a special Forsaken Pack was released, which grants access to Forsaken's endgame content and exotic gear that was not removed.
Forsaken's release coincided with patch version 2.0 for Destiny 2, which made fundamental changes to the core functionality for all players to mark the start of Year 2 of the game's lifecycle. Through the development of Forsaken, Bungie sought to address criticisms from players and critics; many changes to the game were direct responses to this.