Inside Destiny 2: Renegades and Its Star Wars-Inspired Vision

Destiny 2: Renegades is not just another chapter in Bungie’s long-running shooter. It is a deliberate experiment: a Star Wars™-inspired expansion designed hand-in-hand with Lucasfilm Games, yet firmly rooted in Destiny’s own evolving Fate Saga. The GamesRadar+ article that inspires this piece explores how Bungie and Star Wars’ stewards worked together to lock in the tone, stakes, and feel of Renegades so it would never come across as a disposable side quest.

This article unpacks that creative process, explains what “Star Wars-inspired” really means in this context, and looks at how Bungie is trying to push live-service storytelling forward while preserving what makes Destiny, Destiny.

Renegades in Context: The Fate Saga and Year of Prophecy

Renegades arrives as part of Destiny 2’s larger narrative push called the Fate Saga, a multi-year story arc that follows on from The Final Shape era and the earlier expansion Edge of Fate. Today’s live-service games increasingly rely on long-term narrative planning to keep players engaged, and Destiny is one of the most prominent examples of this model.¹ Bungie has described the Fate Saga as a return to “big questions” about destiny, agency, and cosmic forces – ideas that dovetail naturally with some of Star Wars’ most enduring themes.

Within the Year of Prophecy content schedule, Renegades occupies a crucial middle slot. It is not an epilogue and not a small side story; it is positioned as a major pillar that must:

• Continue threads from Edge of Fate without requiring players to have encyclopedic lore knowledge.
• Introduce Star Wars-inspired aesthetics and archetypes without turning Destiny into a licensed crossover event.
• Set up future expansions like Shattered Cycle and The Alchemist.

Because of that role, Bungie and Lucasfilm Games reportedly spent substantial time aligning on what the “bad version” of Renegades would look like – essentially, everything they wanted to avoid.

The Collaboration: Bungie Meets Lucasfilm Games

Bungie has collaborated with other IP holders before, from 343 Industries during Halo’s transition to curated partnerships like its Destiny crossovers with other entertainment brands. But working with Star Wars – one of the most heavily managed entertainment franchises in the world – required a more formalized partnership, particularly on tone and worldbuilding.²

According to Bungie developers in interviews and talks, they spent a full day walking Lucasfilm Games through Destiny’s history, factions, and cosmology. The goal was to find a tonal “middle space” where:

• Star Wars fans would recognize familiar emotional beats and visual language.
• Destiny veterans would still feel they were playing a story grounded in the Traveler, the Vanguard, and the Nine.
• Neither side would feel like a branded advert for the other.

Lucasfilm, for its part, has experience managing external Star Wars projects with different studios – from games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to collaborations in other genres – which reportedly helped them guide Bungie on what feels authentically Star Wars without copying specific characters or plotlines.²

Building a Shared Tonal Foundation

One of the most revealing insights from Bungie’s narrative team is that they used the “bare skeleton” of Star Wars: A New Hope as a shared foundation during early planning. Not the exact story beats, but the emotional scaffolding:

• A remote, mysterious frontier where something ancient stirs.
• Ordinary-seeming characters pulled into a larger conflict.
• A clash between oppressive power and those who dare to rebel.
• A finale that feels like a decisive, heroic stand – but not the end of the saga.

Using a classic film as a touchstone is a common technique in narrative design; it creates a shorthand for tone and pacing across disciplines. Game writers, mission designers, and cinematic teams can discuss whether a sequence is hitting the “escape from the Death Star” level of tension or the “quiet binary-sunset moment” of reflection without having to constantly re-invent vocabulary.

Crucially, however, Renegades does not replicate A New Hope. Instead, Bungie:

• Applies familiar archetypes – like the reluctant ally, the enigmatic mentor, or the ruthless enforcer – to original Destiny characters.
• Translates “Empire vs. Rebellion” into Destiny’s own faction politics, including the mysterious Nine and dangerous Fallen houses.
• Uses pacing rhythms from Star Wars films while letting player choice and cooperative play drive many of the beats.

The Venn Diagram Approach: Where Destiny and Star Wars Overlap

Bungie’s narrative director has described their guiding principle as a mental Venn diagram: one circle labeled “Destiny,” the other “Star Wars.” Renegades aims to live in the overlapping center: ideas and moments that would make sense in both universes.

This approach also acted as a safeguard. If a proposed story beat only made sense in Star Wars terms – say, a Jedi-order analogue with no Destiny precedent – it could be cut or reworked. Likewise, anything that was pure Destiny lore-dump with no connection to the collaboration’s themes would be saved for another release.

Why It Couldn’t Feel Like a Side Quest

In the GamesRadar+ conversation, Bungie developers repeatedly circle back to one fear: Renegades feeling like a “side quest.” In live-service games, side quests often mean optional, low-stakes stories that can be safely ignored. For a collaboration of this scale, that was unacceptable.

To avoid that pitfall, the team focused on three pillars:

1. Genuine Stakes for the Saga

Renegades is woven into the Fate Saga’s core conflict, particularly the ongoing mystery around the Nine – enigmatic cosmic entities that have long sat at the edges of Destiny’s lore. The expansion is intended to reveal more about their divisions, motivations, and willingness to sacrifice humanity for their own freedom.

In practical terms, that means:

• Major character developments for both new faces and returning figures from earlier Destiny seasons.
• Consequences that will be referenced in future expansions, not quietly forgotten.
• World-state changes on destinations that reflect the outcomes of Renegades’ key missions.

2. Campaign Structure, Not Just Playlist Content

Some live-service updates lean heavily on repeatable activities, with story relegated to voiceover or small cutscenes. Renegades instead is built around a true campaign that functions as the narrative spine, with optional quest lines that enrich and deepen that spine rather than run parallel to it.

To support this, Bungie has been rethinking how to deploy “side” content. On Kepler and other destinations, certain quest chains are technically optional but designed to be narratively rewarding, revealing more about factions like the House of Exile or the Nine’s internal conflicts.

3. The Collaboration as a Core Identity, Not a Promo

Another “bad version” of Renegades the teams wanted to avoid was the branded event feel: a few cosmetic items, some themed strikes, and a short mission line that could be safely ignored by anyone not interested in Star Wars. Instead, the collaboration is baked into the expansion’s look and feel.

That is apparent in details such as:

• The Bungie logo animation mimicking the iconic Star Wars crawl style, as noted in independent coverage.
• Weapons, armor, and environments clearly inspired by Star Wars designs, but filtered through Destiny’s own visual language.
• A story backbone that draws on Star Wars-like archetypes without importing its characters or canon directly.

Visual and Audio Homages Without Breaking Immersion

One of the collaboration’s cleverest decisions was to let sound and visuals carry much of the Star Wars feel while the story remains firmly about Destiny’s universe. The narrative team has explained that they wanted players to be immersed in Destiny at all times, even as they experience moments that evoke classic Star Wars imagery.

Examples discussed in community coverage and Bungie interviews include:

• Blaster-like exotics that echo famous Star Wars weapons in silhouette and firing pattern while obeying Destiny’s exotic design rules.
• Modified existing locations that now resemble iconic Star Wars environments – cold, Hoth-like battlefields; sun-blasted deserts reminiscent of Tatooine; and forested regions that evoke Endor – all populated with Destiny enemies and structures.
• Music and soundscapes that lean into sweeping orchestral motifs and resonant sci-fi hums without crossing into direct quotation of John Williams’ scores.

By isolating Star Wars-inspired elements in presentation rather than lore, Bungie preserves continuity. Guardians are still Guardians, the Traveler still hangs over the solar system, and the Nine are still a uniquely Destiny mystery – even when a mission’s opening shot might remind you of a Star Wars establishing scene.

Kepler, Matter Spark, and New Ways to Explore

While Renegades is the Star Wars-inspired expansion, it is also part of a broader mechanical experiment that starts in Edge of Fate and continues through the Year of Prophecy. Bungie is attempting to inject more Metroidvania-inspired exploration into Destiny’s structure and to give players new traversal tools that reshape how they read a space.

The Kepler destination, introduced earlier in the year, embodies this shift with:

• A maze-like layout full of shortcuts, locked routes, and secrets that open up as you gain new abilities.
• A world-tier system that allows players to self-tune difficulty and reward level, similar in spirit to scalable challenge systems used in other ARPGs.¹
• Quest content that loops back through previously visited areas in new ways, rewarding remembrance and curiosity.

One standout feature is Matter Spark, a traversal-centric ability that lets Guardians bind to dark matter and transform into an electrified form capable of slipping through narrow gaps, racing along corridors, and flanking enemies in ways standard jumps cannot. It is both a platforming tool and a combat wildcard, reinforcing Bungie’s broader goal of making exploration itself feel like a power fantasy.

The Nine, Renegades, and Moral Ambiguity

Renegades also leans into one of Destiny’s most enigmatic factions: the Nine. Over the years, Destiny lore – much of it delivered via in-game text and official compendiums – has painted the Nine as individualistic, sometimes contradictory entities whose interests don’t always align with humanity’s survival.

In the Fate Saga, Bungie is reportedly foregrounding that ambiguity. Some members of the Nine seek absolute freedom, no matter the cost; others have more nuanced views. For the player, that means:

• Allies whose help may come with dangerous strings attached.
• Antagonists whose goals are understandable, even sympathetic, though their methods are not.
• Story choices and perspectives that highlight the theme of fate versus agency: are the Guardians pawns, partners, or something in between?

Star Wars is no stranger to moral complexity itself – from conflicted figures like Darth Vader to factions that act in their own self-interest – which again makes the IP a useful tonal mirror for Renegades’ exploration of cosmic politics and personal loyalty.

Narrative Design Lessons from Renegades

Seen from a higher level, Renegades offers a few valuable lessons about storytelling in ongoing games and cross-IP collaborations:

• Tone-first collaboration pays off. By spending early design time hashing out tone and the “bad version” of the expansion with Lucasfilm, Bungie created a clear north star for every discipline.
• Archetypes are more sustainable than cameos. Instead of importing Star Wars characters, Renegades borrows structural and emotional templates, preserving Destiny’s canon in the process.
• Side content should orbit meaningful stakes. Optional quests and repeatable activities feel more engaging when they feed into a central conflict that obviously matters to the game’s future.
• Traversal and world design can tell story. Abilities like Matter Spark and destinations like Kepler embody themes of discovery, constraint, and freedom in their layouts as much as in dialogue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Renegades include official Star Wars characters or canon events?

No. Renegades is described as Star Wars-inspired rather than a direct crossover. You will not encounter Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, or other canonical Star Wars characters. Instead, the expansion borrows tonal elements, archetypes, and visual motifs while telling an original Destiny story anchored in the Fate Saga.

Do I need to play Edge of Fate before Renegades?

While Bungie designs expansions to be approachable on their own, Renegades is positioned as a follow-up to Edge of Fate and the start of the Fate Saga. Playing Edge of Fate first will give you a stronger grasp on Kepler, the Nine, and the broader stakes, but Bungie generally includes recaps and onboarding tools to help newer or returning players catch up.

Is Renegades just a cosmetic collaboration?

No. Although there are Star Wars-inspired visual elements and cosmetics, Bungie and Lucasfilm aligned on making the collaboration central to the expansion’s story, mission design, and presentation rather than restricting it to a small cosmetic pack.

How does Renegades affect the long-term Destiny 2 story?

Renegades is part of the multi-year Fate Saga, and its events will inform later expansions like Shattered Cycle and The Alchemist. Choices and outcomes in Renegades are expected to shape how factions like the Nine and human powers interact going forward.

Will Renegades change how dungeons and raids work?

Renegades builds on Bungie’s experiments started in Edge of Fate, including greater accessibility for traditionally high-end content. Bungie has discussed enabling solo-friendly and matchmade experiences in dungeon-like spaces, indicating a continued push to open up more complex activities without abandoning challenging endgame content.