Details of a Destiny: The Taken King cross-promotion partnership with Red Bull became official Wednesday. Activision and the energy drink maker announced that they are not only providing codes to give experience boosts to PlayStation and Xbox players, but an exclusive quest, as well.
Those that purchase a can of specially marked Destiny -branded Red Bull cans will be given access to a quest that leverages themes of “speed, tenacity, and strategy inspired by the energy drink.” Each can will include a code for bonus XP points that can be redeemed in-game.
The Destiny -branded Red Bull cans will appear in stores on July 1, and the codes to receive a 50 percent XP boost for 30 minutes can be used right away. However, the new quest will launch after The Taken King is released on September 15.
A disclaimer on the accompanying Red Bull Quest website, where codes can be redeemed, reveals that the quest is only a timed exclusive. No code will be required to access the quest after January 1, 2016.
“This partnership brings two brands synonymous with adventure together to offer Destiny players a unique opportunity to further advance their Guardians in the Destiny universe,” said Tim Ellis, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Activision. “Whether a player is new to Destiny or with us since launch, the special quest promotion will help give them the ‘wings’ and experience boost to take on The Taken King .”
“I’m really excited to be a part of this partnership,” said Michael “Flamesword” Chaves, Red Bull eSport athlete. “I love that Red Bull and Destiny have a shared sense of adventure, camaraderie, and pushing boundaries that both brands embody. As a former Coach of OpTic Gaming and Team Captain of my current squad, I’m always looking to help others be at their best. I am very much looking forward to coaching the Destiny community through the quest and help everyone Become Legend!”
While Chavez and Ellis are excited about the promotion, existing Destiny players already stung by the recent controversy of the The Taken King Collector’s Edition content aren’t exactly thrilled with a timed-exclusive quest.
“Wow a timed exclusive mission for Americans and Canadians which you can only get from drinking [R]ed Bull,” Engineerthegreat wrote on the Destiny subreddit. “Yep [De]estiny really showing they listen.”
“They literally just limited an entire mission which relies on me buying a drink that I may not even like?” questioned JeminTime999 , who also brings up how European players are completely locked out of the promotion.
“Not to mention it’s only available in the US, so the only way for someone in the UK like myself to play this mission is to contact someone in the US to buy [Red Bull] just to give me a code,” he added.
We’ll cover the community feedback for our CE and veteran options in this week’s update. Please stand by.
— Bungie (@Bungie) June 24, 2015
Bungie Community Manager David “Deej” Dague is already penning what is a presumably a lengthy post for the Bungie Weekly Update to address concerns over The Taken King Collector’s Edition content. Hopefully, there will be some mention of how Destiny players outside of the United States won’t be locked out of this quest, either.
[Images via Bungie , Red Bull ]
