Bungie outlines major Destiny 2 changes for 2018 as it overhauls Eververse microtransactions

Bungie has laid out its plans for the future of Destiny 2, addressing fan concerns that have been building for months and announcing an overhaul of the game's Eververse microtransaction system amid industry-wide outcry about the practice of implementing micropayments.

In a lengthy blog post, Bungie explained that it would "shift the balance" for items available through the in-game Eververse store, run by vendor Tess, which uses a currency earned through play and available to purchase with real-world money.

"We recognise that the scales are tipped too far towards Tess at the moment, and Eververse was never intended to be a substitute for end game content and rewards," director Christopher Barrett writes.

Items such as Ghosts, ships and sparrows, as well as emotes, colour shaders and weapon ornaments are available through Eververse. These will soon be unlocked through activity rewards rather than 'Bright Engrams' collected for levelling up.

Bungie also announced that all seasonal and limited-time events - such as Iron Banner and Faction Rally - will be available to all players regardless of the expansions they've purchased.

The developer also revealed its plans for the rest of 2018, starting with a big update on 30 January that will add Masterwork Armour in addition to weapons. Masterworks are a category of item that has better stats with the base-level item.

Raid rewards will also be improved before the end of the month, with a Raid item dropping after each major encounter and an expanded array of items available for purchase through the Raid vendor.

In February, a scoring system similar to that in the original Destiny will be implemented for Nightfall strikes, the weapon and armour mod is getting a "full rework", text chat will be added to the Tower in Destiny 2 on PC and the rate at which duplicate exotic items drop will be lowered.

In spring, alongside the release of Destiny 2's second, untitled expansion, comes a new season for players - during which clans can start earning rewards from scratch again. Season three will bring with it changes to a crucible, including ranks, private matches and return of 6v6 matches - which was the standard in the original game.

Players will be granted additional space in their vaults during season three, clan chat will be introduced on PC and Bungie plans to implement the long-awaited system that will allow players to equip and use multiple emotes.

Later this year will come new Crucible playlists, "better clan rewards", masterworks for exoitc items, improvements to Trials of the Nine and much more. We've only scratched the surface of what's in store. For full details head to Bungie's blog.