Why did Microsoft and Activision give a copy of Destiny 2 to the Xbox One X reviewers?
That question is exactly what we have been asking at DualShockers over the past week since we got our review unit for Xbox One X, along with Destiny 2 and Xbox communities. And, for the record, we still don’t know the answer. And Activision still isn’t ready to give it.
In order to get a review out before launch, select media outlets and influencers were sent the Xbox One X. And with that pack game a few games to test the console on. Well… a few may be a bit conservative, here is the full lineup of codes we received:
For those keeping count, those are 18 games ranging from the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront II to Minecraft. Even more notable, every game sent to us has a form of Xbox One X enhancement either currently available or in the works. That is, all of them except Destiny 2.
And this observation didn’t go unnoticed. When the first photos went live of reviewer’s packed-in games, posts started popping up around Destiny 2 communities making bold claims that Destiny 2 had been confirmed as enhanced:
There was even a dedicated Reddit user claiming that his (Taco Bell won) Xbox One X was able to play Destiny 2 remarkably better, offering more stable framerates.
But neither of these are direct confirmations of anything. Just because Destiny 2 is packed with the Xbox One X doesn’t mean the game is Xbox One X Enhanced, nor can we make stability assumptions off of one person’s experiences.
But we still wanted to know why Destiny 2 was packed in, and whether the game would be Enhanced. And so we asked Activision.
The answer we got from Activision was to be expected. No new information, but also not committing one way or the other:
Of course, anyone who has read DualShockers’ Xbox One X review will know there are plenty of innocuous reasons for non-enhanced games to be included with the Xbox One X. Thanks to the increased power, even standard, non-enhanced titles and Backward Compatible games saw improved gameplay or loading times.
Activision had already included their recent AAA blockbuster, Call of Duty: WWII, so this may be publishing giant making sure all of their big fall releases are on full display. But it’s hard to deny the game is an odd stand out from the other enhanced titles included.
Of course, this isn’t the first announcement we’ve heard regarding Xbox One X support for Destiny 2. Way back at E3 2017 (and even before), game director Luke Smith made a note to Geoff Keighley that all consoles will run Destiny 2 at 30 fps — including Xbox One X:
Yet boosting framerates is not the only form that Xbox One X enhancements take form. And Bungie hasn’t ruled it out completely, even with the Sony marketing partnership and exclusivity deal in place. In fact, Bungie’s Project Lead Mark Noseworthy made comments mid-June that Bungie “would never hold back game performance on a platform to appease a partner.”
4/4: We are currently evaluating 4K for Xbox One X. It launches after D2 and so we are focused on the launch consoles right now.
— Mark Noseworthy (@knowsworthy) June 15, 2017
The Xbox One X launches in only a couple days on November 7, 2017, though it seems unlikely we will hear how the Xbox One X version of Destiny 2 stacks up before then.