Mobile gaming is becoming increasingly popular these days. After all, not everyone has a gaming console or high-powered gaming PC, but many people do have a smartphone. With more mobile games on the market, many big IPs and game franchises have launched mobile spinoffs, with varying degrees of success. And despite some concern about translating the popular Destiny franchise to mobile, Destiny: Rising has already shown itself to be a massive success. At ComicBook, we had the chance to speak with the developers behind this game to see what went into crafting this impressive mobile title and what’s next.
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Destiny: Rising is the first brand-new installment in the Destiny franchise in 8 years. And for many fans, seeing the pivot to a free-to-play mobile game was initially a bit concerning. However, as our own Destiny: Rising review and fan reactions show, NetEase has managed to pull off a mobile version of Destiny. The game both feels like Destiny and brings unique elements to offer engaging gameplay and story that sets it apart from the rest of the franchise. And after speaking with the devs, it’s clear that a lot of love for the original games, along with careful consideration, went into making that happen.
Destiny Rising Places Characters and Players at the Center
When approaching the first-ever mobile entry to Destiny: Rising, NetEase “wanted to bring the authentic, core Destiny experience to mobile, and even go beyond what the original offered.” This is a pretty high bar the development team set for themselves, but it seems that the game has largely met that challenge.
To pull it off, the team “spent a huge amount of time refining and testing the core controls” while also focusing “heavily on tailoring gameplay loops to fit the shorter, bite-sized sessions common to mobile gaming.” Indeed, when playing mobile games, many of us are squeezing it in between other things. Destiny: Rising manages to translate the Destiny experience into those bite-sized chunks.
This is by design, as NetEase emphasized “structuring the narrative in a more episodic format so players can easily jump in and out of the game without losing their place.” To do this, they didn’t just want to port the existing content into small chunks on mobile. Instead, they worked to create new content to keep players engaged, including new gameplay modes better suited to a mobile environment.
When asked what advantages the mobile format has, the NetEase team said, “The primary advantage mobile brings is, of course, portability. Beyond just letting players team up with friends for a dungeon run anytime, anywhere, this portability makes our casual and lifestyle gameplay a much better fit.” In between more combat-focused modes, players in Destiny: Rising can also “pop in to decorate their Wolf Den, challenge a passerby to a match of Shadowshaper Duels or even just go fishing.”
It’s clear that NetEase had the player experience in mind when crafting the gameplay of Destiny: Rising, thinking about what potential mobile might have compared with console and PC Destiny titles. Ultimately, the game is intended to offer “a sense of constant companionship, removing the need to be anchored to a console or PC.” And it does exactly that, bringing players into a time before Destiny‘s Guardians. It’s here that NetEase really lets characters shine, noting that “we want every Lightbearer to be memorable to our players.”
Each individual story arc is crafted “to be unique and beloved by [NetEase’s] own creative team,” which is comprised of self-affirmed Destiny fans. This both serves the bite-sized nature of a mobile narrative by segmenting the story across character arcs while also giving players fan-favorites to learn more about and forge deeper connections to.
What’s Coming Next for Destiny Rising
Of course, I couldn’t get the chance to talk to the Destiny: Rising devs without asking a few questions about what’s next. For many gamers, the fear of gacha price creep is real. It’s notorious for the genre to slowly pull back in-game rewards over time, encouraging players to spend more money. So, I asked the Destiny: Rising team about their philosophy on monetization and gacha in general.
“Our team’s philosophy is that the player’s spending experience should feel positive, rewarding, and worthwhile,” they told me. When NetEase designed the Destiny: Rising gacha system, the team “adhered to a few core principles: transparency, predictability, and richness.” They went on to add that “these same principles guide all of our other monetization strategies as well.”
That’s not necessarily a guarantee that the gacha mechanic will always be as rewarding as it feels now. But it does give some insight into NetEase’s ongoing efforts to be transparent about monetization in their games. These values are something we’ve seen in other free-to-play titles from the developer, like Marvel Rivals, as well.
In terms of what’s next for Destiny: Rising? I asked for teasers, of course. While the team wasn’t able to get too specific, I did learn a little bit of what we can expect from Season 2 and Season 3.
“Players can look forward to regular updates with new characters and their stories,” NetEase told me. “Season 2 will introduce new dungeons, challenges, and events, with even more to look forward to in Season 3.”
While there’s still plenty of time to enjoy Season 1 content, it’s clear that NetEase already has plans in the works to keep new challenges, events, and more rolling in Destiny: Rising. This will likely include more opportunities to dig into those character stories and gameplay modes that make the mobile rendition so compelling. Based on the previously released roadmap from NetEase, we’ll likely see this new Season 2 content sometime in November 2025.
Destiny: Rising is available for Android and iOS devices via the Google Play and Apple App Stores, respectively. You can also emulate the game on PC via MuMuPlayer. It is a free-to-play game with optional in-game purchases, including gacha-style pulls.
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