The Destiny 2: Beyond Light Launch Is Off To A Rough Start

November 10 is an important date for many people. For some, it marks the launch of the Xbox Series X (and critics love it), and for others, it marks the day Sesame Street first graced the airwaves in 1969. But for many gamers, November 10, 2020, is the day Bungie launched the Destiny 2 expansion Beyond Light. And the release landed with a splat.

Shortly before the expansion launched, Bungie took the servers offline. Anyone who tried to log in was greeted with the message, "Server offline. The Light cannot save you. Seek us out on Europa." Before they went to bed, many gamers assumed the servers would come back online the next day, and players could rejoin the fight against the Darkness as soon as they woke up. However, the Darkness had other plans because the servers haven't worked properly since.

Around noon EST, Bungie tweeted that its elite squad of server specialists was "investigating server and connection issues." These problems included an inability to log in, constant disconnections, and queue lines stretching toward the sunset. Two hours later, the Twitter account posted that the process was ongoing. The team didn't have answers and wasn't willing to post updates. Players just had to remain patient, which is an oxymoron.

The related Twitter threads and official Destiny 2 forum filled up with players blasting Bungie for bungling the expansion launch. While much of the criticism stemmed from the servers and their inability to keep up with players, many were annoyed that history had repeated itself. Even though Bungie has released numerous expansions over six years and now two console generations, and the company still couldn't release a new load of Destiny content without the servers waving the white flag.

While players are losing their patience, Bungie has been making progress. At around 3 PM EST, the company announced that it expected the servers to come back online at 4 PM PST (7 PM EST). While this does not guarantee Bungie can stick to its new schedule, it implies the company's server wizards have identified the problem and are confident they can patch the issue within several hours. Whether or not they can patch things up with annoyed players, however, is another story.

While Destiny 2: Beyond Light is off to an icy start, the initial problems will eventually melt away, and players can soon enjoy the new content. The question remains: Will the servers call in sick again when Bungie releases the Witch Queen and Lightfall expansions? We will have to wait and see.