14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Bungie is announcing that a new matchmaking system for Destiny is set to go live on Wednesday, January 27, at 10 AM Pacific Standard Time, with the game expected to place more of an emphasis on connection quality than on finding skilled opponents for the player to face.
The official announcement explains that the changes are being introduced to deal with the lag associated with the social shooter, and that players should see results as soon as it goes live.
The new installment of Iron Banner for Destiny is set to be introduced at 10 AM PST on Tuesday, January 26, and the developers are saying they will use the 24-hour gap to see the differences between the two matchmaking systems.
According to Bungie, the plan is to offer more information to gamers about the tweaks and the effects that they will have on the player experience, something that the studio has been unwilling to do last year.
The team adds, "As always, we'll be monitoring the state of the Crucible for stability and improvement. If all goes well, we intend to deploy the new matchmaking settings to more Crucible playlists over time. And, in keeping with this trend, we'll be sure to let you know."
Bungie explains that it is aware that the player community wants to get more details about the future of Destiny and the way the core mechanics of the social shooter will be improved, and pledges to talk to fans more in the coming weeks and months.
Feedback on the results of the new matchmaking system is also encouraged, especially if it features a link to a completed match.
Crimson Days is set to launch on February 9
The event is the first one that will help the Destiny community celebrate Valentine's Day, with an entirely new game mode called Crimson Doubles that will encourage the community to run 2 versus 2 battles with some new mechanics.
Before Crimson Days goes live, the studio will probably also announce plans to introduce new emotes and other tweaks for Guardians inspired by the classic holiday, with the final size set to be about that of Festival of the Lost.
According to Bungie, there are plans to introduce an even bigger content drop before the end of spring, designed to resemble The Taken King regarding size, which probably means that both strikes and a new raid are in development.
A recent rumor also suggested that the company was getting ready to sell ammo packs for real-world money via the Eververse Trading Company, but the official position is that such mechanics are not even considered at the moment.
Apparently, a Destiny 2 experience was supposed to be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One in September of this year, but Bungie has decided that it needs more time to flesh out new ideas.
That means that the original game in the series will get more content throughout the year, all of it free and powered by revenue associated with microtransactions.