Destiny 2 will charge you extra for dungeons from Witch Queen expansion onwards – and fans aren't happy

It looks like you're going to have to pay extra to access the new dungeons coming to Destiny 2 with the Witch Queen expansion in Year 5 of the game.

The new dungeons that will be added to Destiny 2 in 2022 and beyond won't be included in the standard versions of Witch Queen, or in the various Year 5 season passes, Bungie has clarified today.

That means, if you want to acces all the content that's going to arrive throughout the life of the expansion, you're going to have to commit $79.99 or £69.99 to the game for the deluxe edition of the DLC.

They will also be offered up as seperate purchases, though that's small comfort for some fans who are beginning to question the developer's monetization model (especially since it was only a few weeks ago that we learned Bungie would be removing the paid Forsaken expansion from the game, too).

"We’ve seen some debate around the new dungeon content and wanted to clarify how it will be delivered next year," community manager Cozmo23 clarified over on Reddit. "If you get the digital deluxe edition of The Witch Queen you will receive the expansion, all four seasons for the next year, and the two dungeons. If you get the Standard Edition, you can still upgrade to the Deluxe Edition to get the dungeons later. We will also be offering a separate way for you to purchase the dungeons in the future, but they will not be included in the season passes."

For clarity, then, if you want to get access to everything Bungie is throwing at you for the start of 2022, you're going to need to shell out for: the Witch expansion, season passes, and a deluxe upgrade or a series of extra one-off purchases. Yes, it's convoluted, and no, people aren't happy. A cursory look at the game's Reddit right now will tell you that much. And that's before you get to the comments about the new player on-boarding experience, too.

Initially set for launch later this year, in line with the majority of other Destiny releases to date, Witch Queen was delayed to early 2022 - which looks to be when Bungie wants yearly releases to drop now.

The Witch Queen is out February 22 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia.