Destiny Pre-Order Bonus Could Be… Destiny Beta

A fan has stumbled across data that suggests that upcoming Bungie shooter Destiny will have its beta as its own pre-order bonus.

The evidence comes from a dead link on the game’s official site. Quite plainly, the link says, “Pre-order Destiny at select retailers and receive admission to the Destiny Beta. Play it first. Become Legend.”

Further investigation finds that the screen only comes up in the UK and Canada. People who have preordered the game seem to have been sent User Research survey forms, possibly to seek out players for the beta. Fans are also speculating that the beta is going to be Playstation 4 exclusive, based on Bungie’s collaboration with Sony. Or possibly, this is wishful thinking.

While this screenshot clearly shows a beta link, going to the link now shows nothing. If you navigate to the site to preorder, it also makes no more references to it. So, if this was something in the works and intended to be revealed along the way, was it simply hidden away because it got leaked too early, or did Bungie decide to change things up after the leak?

Also, why was it UK and Canada only? I can only speculate that Bungie was anticipating excessively high demand from the US, and did not want to launch their beta there lest they face more logins than they can handle. Again, however, we have not received official word from the company regarding this recently uncovered data.

If the Destiny beta is the pre-order bonus, it would be an elegantly simple and brilliant move. You can immediately see the value, and it’s a way more compelling reason to sign on for it than the usual mix of maps, skins and extra content.

Source: NeoGAF