Bungie has released five of these short stories so far: Gambit Prime, The Reckoning, Praxic Order, The Murder of Cayde-6, and The Job. Some are suggesting that these short stories shift the Destiny 2 narrative as fans know it into much darker territory for Destiny 3. It positions both the player character and the Drifter as characters who are not liked by the NPCs in the Tower.

It also connects the Drifter to the death of Cayde-6, with Cayde-6’s Ghost having been killed by “a single, Thorn-like bullet.” Thorn returns in the new season of content, and it is connected to The Last Word weapon (rewarded to players through a Drifter quest). Players will be able to get Thorn in an allegiance quest that launches on March 12, and this is expected to be a Drifter quest, too. As part of this, Destiny 2 will likely allow players to choose sides - between the Drifter and the Vanguard.

The main story of Destiny 2 made the player character the hero, but that changed in Destiny 2: Forsaken. There were already rumors that Destiny 3 would be a much darker game story-wise, with Guardian powers fueled by the Darkness (rather than the Light) and open-world areas with player versus player (PvP) combat. These Season of the Drifter short stories seem to support that.

It’s unconfirmed when Bungie plans to release Destiny 3. However, analysts have suggested that Bungie is looking to have the sequel’s release date in 2020. This would be in line with the release pattern of the previous games, with Destiny having launched in 2014, followed by Destiny 2 in 2017.

A 2020 release date also means that the followup to Destiny 2 would likely be a launch title for the PlayStation 5 and the next Xbox, which are also expected to arrive next year. Bungie has now secured the Destiny series, purchasing it from former publisher Activision. This allows Bungie to do whatever it wants with the next game in the franchise, which would let the studio take its time or follow the aforementioned three-year release schedule.

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) (via GamesRadar)