Destiny: Rising

Destiny: Rising is a mobile role-playing game that places players in a "shared world" with single-player, PVE multiplayer, and PVP multiplayer modes available, plus multiplayer modes which are a mix of both. In addition to friends and matchmade players, it also offers the option to play with bots when insufficient other players are available. Unlike its first-person shooter predecessors, Rising can also be played as a third-person shooter. The game supports touchscreen, game controller, and mouse and keyboard control schemes, with developer NetEase offering official emulator support, via their own MuMuPlayer application, for those who wish to play on Windows or macOS devices.

Rather than controlling a character of a specific class, as in mainline Destiny games, players choose from a roster of characters known as Lightbearers who each manifest one of the game's three core elements called Solar, Arc, and Void, each with unique abilities and stories. The game included 10 playable characters at launch, with two more following in its first official season. Characters vary in the weapon types which can be equipped in their two weapon slots: Primary, which have infinite ammunition, and Power, which have finite ammunition. Players have a shared inventory, allowing weapons to be shared between all characters available to them. Additionally, characters each possess a Relic, which determines their abilities.

Bungie, the developers of the main Destiny games, described Rising as a "brand-new adventure set in an alternate Destiny timeline". It takes place many years prior to the original Destiny, before the existence of the Tower and Guardians; however, due to its separate timeline, it does not affect the story of the mainline games and contains aspects which contradict their canon.

Following a golden age caused by the arrival of an entity known as "The Traveller" and the subsequent "Collapse" caused by alien invaders, humanity is recovering from a second dark age and entering the early "City Age". Creatures born from the damaged Traveller (known as Ghosts), resurrect those humans capable of wielding its "Light" against their enemies, creating entities known as "Lightbearers."

In June 2018, it was announced that Bungie, the developers responsible for Destiny and Destiny 2, had received over US$100,000,000 as part of an investment from the Chinese company NetEase, granting them "a minority stake in Bungie and a seat on its board of directors". Bungie chief executive officer Pete Parsons stated that the partnership was intended to help them "be a global game and entertainment company ... to build games that are inspiring people from around the world". Before that point, Bungie games had never been released in mainland China, and NetEase were responsible for operating mainland China versions of Blizzard games (such as World of Warcraft and Overwatch); however, Parsons stated that there was "no explicit deal [to publish our games in China]".

Initial speculation on the collaboration between these two companies was that they would be working on a new AAA title (potentially named "Matter") and not any Destiny games; however, in September 2021, rumors began to surface (based on job postings on the company's official website) that Bungie was working on a mobile game set within the Destiny universe, then in April 2022 another job post indicated that Bungie was working to extend their existing proprietary game engine (the "Tiger Engine") to support mobile devices. In July 2022, a source with "knowledge of NetEase's development plans" informed The Game Post that they were working on a new Destiny game not related to Bungie's concurrent title Destiny 2. It was stated that development efforts on the game had been underway for "well over two years". GameSpot then reported in September 2024 that, despite recent staffing cuts at Bungie (impacting 220 employees), the game was still in development and would be called Destiny Rising (stylized without a colon). In the same month, a former NetEase developer's LinkedIn profile described a NetEase project on the "Destiny IP" (assumed to be Destiny Rising) as "a project developed jointly by Netease[sic] & Bungie" and "a MMOFPS/TPS+RPG game, with high standards".

During the initial alpha tests for Rising, it received praise for its presentation, effective controls (including via touchscreen), and capturing the look and feel of the Destiny series. In their preview, Jonathan LoChiatto of Destructoid noted that "it's not perfect by any means, but it's remarkable how much it feels like I'm playing Destiny on my phone. Everything a Destiny player might expect is on show and available in Destiny: Rising, from Strikes to PvP and even Raid-like challenges".

Common areas of criticism were the game's scripting and voice acting. Paul Tassi of Forbes wrote that "The worst part of the core game itself is the writing and voicework. The world does not remotely carry the same tone as the main game, not even close ... The awful script is matched only by the worse voicework ... All of this is so bad it encouraged me to play the game silently most of the time".