Destiny is an online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game series developed by Bungie and previously published by Activision. The series began in 2014, and following Bungie's split from Activision in 2019, the main series became self-published by Bungie. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series. Set in a "mythic science fiction" world, the series features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games. Activities are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) game types. In addition to normal story missions, PvE features three-player "strikes" and dungeons and six-player raids. A free roam patrol mode is also available for each destination which feature public events. PvP features objective-based modes, as well as traditional deathmatch game modes.

Players take on the role of a Guardian, protectors of Earth's last safe city as they wield a power called Light, granted by a celestial being called the Traveler, to protect the City from different alien races. Guardians journey to different planets to investigate and destroy the alien threats before humanity is completely wiped out, while also engaging in an intergalactic war against the Traveler's ancient enemy, the Darkness—Guardians also later learn to control and use its power.

The first game in the series was Destiny, which released on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Over the course of its three-year lifecycle, four expansion packs were released. A sequel, Destiny 2, released in September 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, followed by a Microsoft Windows version the following month. It was later released on Google Stadia, PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X/S platforms. Destiny 2 had 10 expansion packs; the eighth, The Final Shape, concluded the first saga of the franchise called the "Light and Darkness" saga, while the ninth, The Edge of Fate, was originally intended to begin a new saga called the "Fate" saga, but these plans were scrapped after Bungie announced it was ending support for the game following its final update in June 2026; the game's 10th expansion, Renegades would in turn be the final expansion for the game. Additionally, the second year of the game's lifecycle introduced seasonal content—extra downloadable content released periodically throughout the year between each major expansion. Year 7 of the game replaced the seasons with three larger episodes, while Year 8 instead shifted to two large seasons that lasted several months, with each beginning with a medium-sized expansion and then receiving a "major update" midway through the season. The final update for the game was Monument of Triumph in June 2026, and although Bungie ended support for Destiny 2 following this major update, the game remains online and playable just like the original Destiny. In September 2026, however, Bungie revealed its plans to re-add all previously removed content to lay the foundation to continue the series.

In October 2019, the base game of Destiny 2 was re-released as a free-to-play title called Destiny 2: New Light, becoming a live service game, with only the expansions and seasonal passes requiring purchasing. The series expanded into the mobile market with a free-to-play live service mobile game entitled Destiny: Rising. It was developed and published by NetEase, with licensing from Bungie, and was released on August 28, 2025, for Android and iOS devices. Its story is set in an alternate timeline many years before the original game.

Setting Bungie described the setting of Destiny as a "mythic science-fiction" world. The setting, about 700 years in the future from present day, follows a prosperous period of exploration, peace, and technological advancement known as the Golden Age. In a universe where humans have spread out and colonized planets in the Solar System, an event known as "the Collapse" saw the mysterious dissolution of these colonies, the end of the Golden Age, and mankind teetering on the brink of extinction. The only known survivors of the Collapse are those living on Earth, who were saved by "the Traveler", a white, spherical celestial body whose appearance centuries before had enabled humans to reach the stars. The Collapse was caused by a mysterious force called the Darkness, wielded by a malevolent being called the Witness, an ancient enemy of the Traveler that plagues the galaxy. The Traveler now hovers above the last safe city on Earth, simply called The Last City, which is surrounded by a massive Wall, and its presence allows the Guardians — the defenders of the City — the ability to wield an unknown power, only referred to as "Light". The player takes on the role of a Guardian, and is tasked with reviving the Traveler while investigating and destroying alien threats before humanity is completely wiped out.

Upon mankind's first attempt to repopulate and reconstruct after the Collapse, it is discovered that hostile alien races have occupied mankind's former colonies and civilizations, and are now encroaching upon the City. Throughout the series, players have to combat aggressive aliens who have occupied the Solar System. Just like the Light for the Guardians, the Darkness lends powers to these alien threats, though Guardians have soon begun to wield the powers of Darkness themselves along with the Light. The powers of Light and Darkness are discovered to be forms of paracausal energy that gives their wielders the ability to bend the laws of reality to their own will, with the Light being tied to the physical world, and the Darkness being tied to thought and consciousness.

Both games use settings on various planets, moons, and other features within the Solar System as the Guardians fight to defend the remnants of the Golden Age. Destiny featured maps across Earth's Russian Cosmodrome (and an area outside it called the Plaguelands), its Moon, Venus, and Mars, and also included player-versus-player maps set on Mars' moon Phobos and the planet Mercury. Destiny 2, prior to the Beyond Light expansion, included Earth's European Dead Zone (EDZ), its Moon, Mercury, Mars, the centaur Nessus, Jupiter's moon Io, and Saturn's moon Titan, as well as the Tangled Shore and Dreaming City, areas situated along the Reef, located in the System's asteroid belt. There was also a social space in the EDZ called The Farm. With Beyond Light, Bungie opted to create a Destiny Content Vault (DCV), placing Mercury, Mars, Io, Titan, and The Farm content within it to start, as a means to better manage the game's future expansions. Bungie planned to revise vaulted content as the series progressed to re-introduce these into the game. Beyond Light also reintroduced Earth's Cosmodrome from Destiny as well as a new location, Jupiter's moon Europa, and a new social space called the H.E.L.M. (Hub for Emergency Maneuvers and Logistics). Another social space, Xûr's Treasure Hoard, located in an unknown realm of the Nine called Eternity, was added in Season 15 as part of the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack. The Witch Queen added a fourth social space, the Enclave on Mars, as well as a new location, Savathûn's Throne World, within the Ascendant Realm above Mars. Upon release of The Witch Queen, the Tangled Shore was removed and placed in the DCV, but Bungie stated that following this, expansion content would no longer be vaulted, but seasonal content would still be removed upon release of each major expansion with some exceptions.

Lightfall added the secret technologically advanced city called Neomuna on Neptune. Simultaneously, The Farm social space returned briefly in Season 20, Season of Defiance. A fifth social space, the Hall of Champions, was added in Season 23 as part of Into the Light, but was removed upon the release of The Final Shape. The Final Shape added a new location, the Pale Heart, located within the Traveler, with areas influenced by previous destinations explored throughout the history of the franchise—this was also the first patrol destination that could be explored solo unless the player had a pre-made fireteam. The Edge of Fate added a new location, Kepler, a planetoid affected by a singularity located within the Oort cloud at the edge of the Solar System and is home to the mysterious Aionian race and the Fallen House of Exile. Renegades added a new social space on Mars, the Tharsis Cantina, home to various galactic crime syndicates and is inspired by Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. It also added new missions on the destinations of Europa, Mars, and Venus, but in areas outside of the Vanguard's patrol called the Lawless Frontier.

Other destinations that have been featured in the games include the Dreadnaught, the massive flagship of Oryx, The Taken King, situated in the rings of Saturn in the original Destiny, and the Leviathan, the flagship of the exiled Cabal Emperor, Calus, in Destiny 2. The Leviathan was originally only the location of Destiny 2s original three raids and located in Nessus' orbit, but was removed upon Beyond Lights release; however, a derelict version in the Moon's orbit became a patrol destination in Season 17, Season of the Haunted, although it was removed upon the release of Lightfall. During Episode: Revenant, the Last City's market district and apartments were added as a social space and hub for the episodic content.

Characters

The expansive universe of Destiny features numerous recurring non-player characters (NPCs) to assist the player. Several provide the player with quests while others are vendors to buy new gear using the in-game currency of glimmer and/or other resources. Most of these characters are human or of two subspecies: the Awoken, descendants of a human colony ship that had encountered a phenomenon in deep space that caused them to become more enlightened to paracausal forces while giving them blue-gray skin and other elf-like features, and Exo, robotic shells housing human consciousness developed by the Clovis Bray Corporation as to try to give humans immortality but require their memories to be occasionally wiped to prevent them from going insane.

While all Lightbearers of the Vanguard are recognized as Guardians, the player's character is unnamed and is simply referred to as "Guardian" or "the Guardian" by the NPCs. In the original Destiny, the character was voiced by one of six people, depending on which species and gender the player selected when creating their character: Matthew Mercer and Susan Eisenberg voiced the male and female Human guardians, Crispin Freeman and Grey Griffin voiced the male and female Awoken Guardians, while Peter Jessop and Cree Summer voiced the male and female Exo Guardians. In Destiny 2 beginning with Beyond Light, Peter Jessop now voices all male player Guardians while Susan Eisenberg voices all female ones.