“The Final Shape looms — a nightmarish calcification of reality into the Witness’s twisted design. Embark on a perilous journey into the heart of the Traveler, rally the Vanguard, and end the War of Light and Darkness.”
Final Shape promises an end to the game’s overarching narrative with some returning allies including the long-dead Cayde-6, the new Prismatic subclass that lets characters wield combined elemental abilities, multiple new weapons, a new raid, and a wide assortment of updates to armor, weapons, and grouping.
Following the initial release of the expansion, players can expect three new content episodes that will replace the game’s previous seasonal content releases, each one promising “new stories, new activities, and new rewards.” The first episode, Echoes, will release on June 11th and will unfold across three acts that arrive every six weeks until early October.
As referenced in the lede, it has been a long and bumpy road to this point. Readers will likely remember that Final Shape was originally scheduled to launch in February but was delayed into June following layoffs at Bungie, a demoralized staff, demands from the studio’s PlayStation overlords, and the game’s director leaving his position. The delay forced the shooter to significantly extend its Season of the Wish, pad the time with multiple events, and try to pad its coffers with various cross–promotions.
The shooter is expected to come back online at roughly 1:00 p.m. EDT, while there are some known issues that players should be aware of when the expansion is available.