Destiny 2 Will Not Support Some 3rd Party Applications on PC

Destiny 2 will mark the first time Bungie’s popular franchise will come to the PC. In light of that, one of the issues the developer will have to tackle is how to keep cheaters and hackers from affecting the game, which is a more prominent issue on PC over consoles. While putting the game into Blizzard’s app should help that, Bungie is taking even more precautions.

Bungie says there are safeguards and security in place, but part of that has the negative side effect that some commonly used third party applications will not be compatible with Destiny 2. The main issue that is causing the incompatibility comes from any application on PC that attempts to insert code into the game client. Destiny 2 will block such attempts, thus making those applications incompatible. It makes sense, because the same methods used by those legitimate apps are similar or the same methods someone could use for more nefarious purposes.

Bungie outlined the restrictions in a post on its official site, noting the Game Capture mode of programs like XSplit and OBS are not supported. However, you'll be able to use the Screen Capture and Window Capture modes in OBS and XSplit while playing in Windowed Mode.

Other game capture programs, like Razer Cortex, Fraps and Dxtory have similar limitations.

Those who wish to capture footage of Destiny 2 while playing in Exclusive Fullscreen can use a dedicated streaming PC, as well as capture hardware like Elgato and AVerMedia. Bungie also notes that both AMD ReLive and NVIDIA Shadowplay are supported.

Select features that use overlays are not compatible with the PC version Destiny 2, including frame rate and stat overlays from programs like EVGA Precision XOC, MSi Afterburner and Fraps. Additionally, features like "Who's Talking" and other voice communication notifications found in programs like Discord and Mumble aren't supported.

So then, Bungie has chosen a lack of some compatibility in exchange for a more secure and cheat-free experience for Destiny 2. One of the biggest incompatibilities comes for those who stream on one PC using Game Capture on OBS or XSplit. Those programs can still be used to stream, but only if Windowed Mode (including Borderless Fullsceen) is used. Screen Capture and Window Capture are still supported as well. While it may be trickier to stream or capture Destiny 2 with a one-PC setup, the addition of other hardware such as a second PC or an Elgato or a VerMedia capture cards seem to be the best workaround.

In addition to those capturing apps, other software that would introduce overlays onto Destiny 2 are not supported either. That includes “Who’s talking” and similar visual notification features that can be found in Discord or Mumble. Also, framerate and statistics overlays (provided by EVGA Provision XOC, MSi Afterburner, and Fraps) are not compatible with Destiny 2 either.

While these restrictions may require some extra work on the part of some streamers and content creators who don’t have a full, 2-PC setup or dedicated external capturing system, the changes should make Destiny 2 a more stable and fair game. The PC beta for Destiny 2 will include these restrictions, so that should give those curious a good chance to test their setup before the full game launches.

Destiny 2 releases on September 6, 2017 for PS4 and Xbox One, and October 24 for PC.

Destiny 2's expansions are going to be very important for the overall health and success of the shooter, according to publisher Activision. Speaking on an earnings call today, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg gave a high-level overview of how the publisher is thinking about Destiny 2 ahead of launch and the importance of its DLC.

Starting off, Hirshberg said there are "a lot of positive signs" about Destiny 2. Starting off, Activision believes in the game itself--Hirshberg said the publisher has a "tremendous amount of confidence" in it.

"We received almost universally positive feedback from both the press and the fans alike," Hirshberg said, adding that the game's development cycle is "continuing to close strong."

One of the reasons why Activision is so optimistic about Destiny 2 is because it is taking steps to broaden the franchise's appeal, Hirshberg said, with things like bringing it to PC, localising it for more countries, and partnering with Blizzard to launch the PC edition through the World of Warcraft  company's massively popular Battle.net service.

He added that pre-orders for Destiny 2 have been "very strong" and added that an "overwhelmingly high percentage" of pre-orders have been for the premium versions that include the game and its expansion content.

Destiny 2 will be supported with multiple expansions after launch. While these have yet to be fully detailed, Hirshberg stressed that Destiny 2's expansion content is incredibly important.

"Finally, and maybe most importantly with a game like this, Destiny is so engaging that the follow-on content is almost as important if not as important as the main game," Hirshberg said.

Hirshberg has been open in admitting that Bungie did not release expansion content for Destiny 1 fast enough to meet demand. For the sequel, Activision brought in studios like Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios to work alongside Bungie.

In Hirshberg's words, he said Activision is "Widening [its] stable of developers to keep up with demand for more content."

Destiny 2 launches in September for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One before coming to PC in October. The PC beta, which restricts some game capture and voice chat apps, begins at the end of the month. You can check out the minimum and recommended specs for the beta here, and you can see what the beta includes here.