Destiny 2: The Witch Queen trailer previews the first mission of the new expansion

Bungie dropped a new trailer for Destiny 2 The Witch Queen at The Game Awards tonight, and it's given us a sample of the first mission in the expansion's campaign.

The trailer opens with a live-action conversation between a Guardian, Ikora, and Eris Morn, and quickly transitions to an in-game segment shot on Mars. Our hero uses the newly released Destiny 2 Forerunner, AKA the Halo magnum, to make short work of some Cabal, but things take a dark turn as Savathun lures the fireteam aboard her ship and into a Hive ambush. 

Even the new glaive-type weapons can't handle the horde, and things get infinitely more dire with the arrival of the first-ever Hive Guardian – a towering knight wielding true-blue Titan abilities, including one-way barricades similar to the ones granted by the Exotic gloves Citan's Ramparts. We also get a brief shot of Savathun herself in action, which is unsurprising but still jarring given how amiable she's been throughout the ongoing Season of the Lost. 

This is the first full-fat trailer we've gotten in a while, and we're actually getting close to The Witch Queen now. However, after a delay which will set a new release schedule for Destiny 2, the expansion's release date is still a few months away. Fortunately, the wait for the new expansion has gotten considerably less painful thanks to the newly released Bungie 30th Anniversary pack, which introduced a medley of free and paid Destiny 2 content which will help tide players over until February 22. Savathun can wait; we've got Destiny 2 Halo guns to grind for now. 

Earlier this year, we spoke to Bungie about the build-up to The Witch Queen and its ambitious plans to make Savathun the game's best villain yet. The studio's been planting the seeds for this expansion for years, and this season's developments – many of them involving Savathun herself – have only cranked the tension higher. 

Destiny 2 Tracing the Stars 1 | Destiny 2 Tracing the Stars 2 | Destiny 2 Tracing the Stars 3 | Destiny 2 Enigmatic Mysteries Shattered Realm | Destiny 2 Ascendant Mysteries Shattered Realm | Destiny 2 Ager’s Scepter

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.