‘Destiny’ Goes Offline Six Hours Today To Prepare For Sparrow Racing League


Destiny players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One looking to get in play time Thursday will need to look elsewhere for several hours. Bungie is taking the game’s server offline for maintenance, signaling that the Sparrow Racing League event will return next week.

Per the Bungie support site, those seeking to play Destiny were not able to login to the game starting at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET, but those already logged in were able to hang around for a little while to complete activities. Bungie is taking the game completely offline at 9 a.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET for five hours until 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET.

The studio did not give an official reason for the maintenance. However, all signs point to this as preparation for the Sparrow Racing League returning with the Tuesday, December 6 Weekly Reset.

[Image via Bungie]

As previously covered, Bungie will be at the PlayStation Experience scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday. Community Manager David “Deej” Dague placed a thinly veiled confirmation in the weekly Bungie update before the week of Thanksgiving that the studio will be at Sony’s event to reveal this year’s edition of Sparrow Racing.

“The week after, we’ll be packing our bags for Anaheim, CA,” Dague wrote at the time. “The particulars of our mission are still a mystery. We’ll cross that finish line soon.”

Last year’s inaugural Sparrow Racing League ran for a month and offered players a chance to race against others across two maps. There was also a $10 record book that could be purchased for additional rewards in the form of more stylish racing suits and Sparrows.

Bungie hasn’t offered any details about this year’s racing event, except to make overtures toward it being a permanent fixture. Whether that turns out to be the case or not remains to be seen.

Still, Destiny players looking forward to SRL’s return should expect to see the return of the Record Book likely with some expanded quest material. Bungie did the same with Festival of the Lost by adding a little extra to this year’s event over the previous year.

An extra racing map or two is likely a safe bet as well. The Mars and Venus maps in last year’s event were fun, but quickly became too repetitive to support a month-long event. A new map set in the Plaguelands seems most probable, but locations on the moon or even Oryx’s Dreadnaught could be fun additions as well. The latter, especially so, since Sparrows can’t be used in that patrol location at all currently.

Beyond that, players will match up in races featuring six players through tracks filled with boost gates and enemy minions shooting at them. End-of-race rewards included racing suit armor, as players worked through a Quest towards a Class S License from Amanda Holiday, plus various bounties. Could more be included this year?

[Image by Bungie]

Whether Bungie will have more to reveal for Destiny at the PlayStation Experience remains to be seen. The game will likely follow the schedule of events from the first half of 2015. This means Sparrow Racing League wrapping up in January followed by the “Crimson Days” Valentine’s Day event in February. Iron Banner monthly events will continue along with Trials of Osiris weekly events.

Could a big April update drop happen? Possibly. The Bungie Live Team will need to continue content drops for Destiny to serve as a bridge until the release of Destiny 2 sometime in the second half of 2017.

Will there be any Destiny 2 reveals at PlayStation Experience? It wouldn’t be the worst time to make some sort of tease or announcement, but nothing has been hinted at yet.

[Featured Image by Bungie]

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