Destiny's Rise of Iron expansion will mean two very different things for the playerbase once it drops later this year.
For those on current gen consoles, it is the beginning of a brand-new adventure, chock-full with new missions, weapons, gear, and a raid. However, for those on "legacy consoles," it is the beginning of the end that will leave the game devoid of many of its defining features.
Everything will go down in August, when Destiny players on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will no longer be able to participate in live events, Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner Crucible matches. In addition, Xur's services will become neutered and no longer offer players the option to purchase specific exotic weapons and armor. However, players can still purchase exotic and legacy exotic engrams, as well as consumable items.
Furthermore, Bungie will also disable "the majority of methods for purchasing Silver," Destiny's in-game currency, for players on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The only thing that will remain relatively unchanged for Destiny players on legacy consoles will be the game's PvE content, with them still having access to Prison of Elders, raids, boss challenges and daily and weekly challenges. Of course, with the consoles poised to be left behind in the future, players shouldn't expect to get any future PvE content later down the road.
Fortunately, Bungie has provided a way for players to transfer their characters and catch up at any time. All applicable players need to do is purchase a copy of Destiny: The Taken King for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One (as well as buy the console, which might not actually be so simple for some) and receive the appropriate game updates. In addition, PS3 and Xbox 360 players will be required to perform an "account import" using their PlayStation Network and Xbox Live accounts, respectively.
While this is an unfortunate turn of events for Destiny players who have been unable to make the switch to current-gen platforms, it's one that has been a long time coming. Whereas third-party publishers and developers stopped releasing last-gen versions of their games awhile ago; Bungie continued to support Destiny across all its platforms and the game suffered as a result.
Hopefully, this will be the final push many need to upgrade to current-gen consoles, because if they don't, they're looking at a future of playing a Destiny that isn't really Destiny anymore.
