Destiny 2‘s Shadow & Order major update seems set to launch on March 3, but some fans are convinced it will be delayed—and they’re not exactly happy with the reason. Marathon, the game’s shiny new sibling, debuts on March 5, which is too close for comfort between the two releases.
The evident conflict is enough to get the community up in arms about a possible postponement. The major update’s release schedule hasn’t been officially announced, so there’s enough time for Bungie to change its date without it technically being late. That said, here’s what we know about the purported Shadow & Order delay.
Shadow & Order delay, explained
Forbes’ Paul Tassi reported Bungie would delay D2‘s next major update because of the proximity to Marathon‘s release date. The studio already has an audience for its looter shooter, waning as it may be, and the expectation is to get some of those players into Tau Ceti, the setting for its new creation.
Shadow & Order’s launch date is based on the in-game countdown for the next major update, which concludes on March 3. Its relative, on the other hand, is steadfastly set for March 5, and D2 players can’t dive into Marathon if they’re too busy playing Destiny 2.
Changing the date of any content might be wildly controversial, regardless of what happens next. Veterans have been leaving Bungie’s looter shooter in droves since The Final Shape, with the maligned The Edge of Fate expansion causing a particularly severe hemorrhage.
Delaying the update means players will have to wait even longer for content, and retaining users is hard enough for Destiny 2 as it is. Pushing it live early, however, can mean some of it is left unfinished or underpolished—and Bungie can’t afford that right now either.
Has Destiny 2’s Shadow & Order been delayed?
As of Jan. 20, there’s no official release date for the game’s next major update, so it’s impossible to fully confirm or deny if we’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Bungie usually publishes news every Thursday on its This Week in Destiny (TWID) blog series. The last few TWIDs have been rather anemic due to the slowdown in content post-Dawning and the end-of-year break, but an announcement this big would be right at home there.
On special occasions, the studio also concocts dedicated blog posts, such as Dev Insights or announcements. It’s difficult to argue that delaying Destiny 2′s next update is not a special occasion, though a well-packed TWID might be the most likely avenue for sharing that news.
Delays aren’t always well-received, and changing the schedule because of Marathon may be particularly bitter to some fans. A narrative in the community is that the new kid on the block has been siphoning resources from D2 since its conception, pulling manpower from the game to invest into the nascent extraction shooter. True or not, it does line up with the decline of Bungie’s golden goose.
Published: Jan 20, 2026 11:33 am