Why did Bungie backtrack on Into the Light weapon time-gating? Destiny 2 controversy explained

On March 27, Bungie revealed that several weapons from the BRAVE arsenal coming to Destiny 2 with Into the Light update will be time-gated. This quickly sparked community backlash, forcing the devs to adjust the release schedule of those weapons.

Here’s everything you need to know about what happened and what to expect from the weapon rewards in the Into the Light update for Destiny 2.

Why were Destiny 2 players frustrated about weapon time-gating?

The BRAVE arsenal features many iconic weapons from the Destiny franchise, like The Recluse, Luna’s Howl, Elsie’s Rifle, and Blast Furnace. The return of these weapons naturally excited players, only to find out they might have to wait weeks until their favorite weapon becomes available.

The initial release schedule for the BRAVE arsenal had six weapons set to be available at the launch of Into the Light on April 9. Bungie was then going to add a new weapon to the reward pool every week. In other words, if a weapon you wanted was last in line, you’d have to wait six weeks to start grinding for it.

On top of that, because the limited-edition variants of the BRAVE arsenal weapons with glowing ornaments would only be available until The Final Shape launches on June 4, you would have a limited time to try and get a god roll of the weapon you wanted.

Destiny 2 players were frustrated and disappointed, knowing they might have to wait so long to get their hands on these weapons and have less time to grind for the limited-edition variants.

Bungie’s response to community feedback

Bungie shortened the release schedule of BRAVE arsenal weapons by three weeks to address player feedback. Instead of releasing one new weapon every week until May 21, the game will have all the weapons available by April 30.

The developers also mentioned generous drop rates from the Onslaught activity and “excellent” curated rolls you can get by completing straightforward quests from Arcite, a vendor coming alongside the new social space in the Into the Light update.

What’s the current BRAVE arsenal release schedule?

Six out of 12 weapons from the BRAVE arsenal will be available at the launch of the Into the Light update on April 9. Those weapons include:

• The Recluse
• Hung Jury SR4
• Succession
• Edge Transit
• Elsie’s Rifle
• Falling Guillotine

After that, new weapons will be added to the reward pool every week, likely during the Destiny 2 weekly resets on April 16, 23, and 30. We don’t know which exact weapons will be added during which week yet, but we will hopefully receive a schedule before Into the Light releases.