I hopped onto the Destiny hype train a bit late, Summer of 2015 to be exact. And while I was a tad bit behind on all the fun, my first time jumping into Destiny was the first time I instantly fell in love with a video game, for the first time in a very long time. I knew what I was getting myself into, though. While I spent much of the beginning on my Destiny journey playing PvE content which felt repetitive to all hell, my most enjoyable and cherished moments, were spent duking it out in the crucible, Destiny’s PvP mode.
Since I’ve first stepped into the crucible, the option of having the ability to create private games to exclusively duke it out with friends and whoever I wanted, was always a dream of mine, as well as thousands of other Guardians. Three DLC expansions have launched since the arrival of 2014’s Vanilla Destiny, and since then, Private Matches have been to no avail…..until now.
Recently, during Bungie’s Destiny Gamescom 2016 Live-stream, the company finally announced the highly desired and anticipated PvP feature, Private Matches! The company revealed that the function would be available for all players starting September 20th, regardless of if you own the Rise of Iron expansion or not. The function however, is only available for Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 owners; so if you are one of those players who are still continuing your Destiny journey on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you might want to think about upgrading to next-gen, sometime soon.
Private Matches will allow you to have full control over a PvP matchmaking sessions. Any PvP map is available for selection, as well as any game mode. The ability to enable or disable light level advantages are also present, along with custom time limits, and even a day/night option for you to choose the time of day on a specific map. Private Matches ultimately opens up a brand new endeavor for the Destiny PvP community, finally opening the door to clan battles, grudge matches, and even tournaments!
Along with the reveal of Private Matches, the company also announced a brand new game-mode, which will be available for Rise of Iron owners, entitled “Supremacy”. The game mode is essentially a Destiny version of “Kill Confirmed”, where players must kill their opponents, who will then drop pendent like artifacts for you to then pickup and earn points for your team.
Bungie also announced three brand new maps, Last Exit, Skyline, and Floating Garden, which will be available upon the release of Rise of Iron, as well as a exclusive map for PlayStation owners, which will be showcased sometime in the near future.
Bungie ultimately pleased many fans today, from both the PvP and the PvE crowd, despite the live-stream being primarily PvP focused. Private Matches has been probably the most desired feature for the game since launch, and it’s nice to see that the developers haven’t been outright ignoring the community and their wishes. THANK YOU BUNGIE!
Destiny: Rise of Iron launches on September 20th, and will be available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
