Destiny 2 players still haven't come around to the idea of paying for one major gameplay feature that used to be included with DLC or seasonal content in the past. Though the game is certainly doing well for itself, many aspects of it have come under fire as of late due to the community not being thrilled with how Bungie is handling them, and it seems like even older issues are now being brought back up.
It's no secret that Bungie avoids commenting on some Destiny 2 problems, and it's possible that this is the case because the studio doesn't consider them to be problems in the first place. One such instance could very well be the way the game is handling some of its more recent Dungeon releases, the latest of which is the Hive-themed Ghosts of the Deep.
It seems that the Destiny 2 community is still every bit as unhappy about the current monetization of Dungeon content as it's ever been, since Bungie introduced the Dungeon key DLCs. Whereas Dungeons used to be bundled with either major yearly expansion packs, like the Forsaken DLC, or alongside seasonal content, Bungie changed this in late 2021 with the release of the 30th Anniversary content pack. All Dungeons released since have been standalone paid releases, with players having the option to either purchase them piecemeal or buy the yearly Dungeon key, granting them access to the two Dungeons the key refers to.
The sentiment that Destiny 2 Dungeons shouldn't be DLCs has been echoed since Bungie announced this change, and the community has picked the issue back up as of late on the game's biggest subreddit. The thread's popularity indicates that most everyone is unhappy that Bungie continues to treat Dungeons as a separate purchase option, and since that has been the case for years now, it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
It is worth pointing out that the introduction of the Dungeon key DLC isn't the only way Bungie has cranked up monetization in its flagship live-service title. Namely, the armor pieces featured in Destiny 2's recent Playstation collaboration can only be purchased with Silver, which cannot be earned in-game, so the only way to get these armor sets is to spend real money.
Now that Bungie is reviving Marathon as a live-service extraction shooter, the obvious concern is that the studio may handle that game's monetization in a similar manner. Whether this ends up being the case is anyone's guess at this point, but the sentiment around Destiny 2's more aggressive monetization systems is clear: the community does not believe it is warranted.
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.