While Destiny has always been a multi-platform series, it has always had close ties with PlayStation, with the PS4 version often getting the majority of marketing. Unfortunately, this deal seems to have had an adverse effect for Destiny 2, as Sony reportedly pushed back on the idea of allowing Destiny 1 players to transfer their characters to Destiny 2 on PC.
According to Jason Schreier on the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast, Bungie was planning to let Destiny 1 players transfer their characters between platforms. This would have been particularly good for those that wanted to make the jump from console to PC. However, Sony would not sign off on it, as the company “wants people to associate Destiny with PS4”.
Sony has been one of the biggest supporters of Destiny since launch. The first game had an exclusivity deal in place, allowing certain pieces of in-game content to remain locked to PS4 for significant periods of time. With Destiny 2, this deal remained in place, although Xbox and PC players get access to PS4-only content a bit faster.
Sony has faced its fair share of criticism over the last year for not playing well with developers looking to support multiple platforms. Eventually, Sony did relent on allowing cross-platform play for specific multiplayer games, but it looks like there is still room for improvement.
KitGuru Says: While I am sure Sony's lack of support for character transfers wasn't the only reason behind Destiny 2's progress wipe, it likely did play a significant factor. Now that Bungie is independent, perhaps we'll see the situation change when it comes time to announce Destiny 3. Personally, I'd like to see timed exclusive content done away with completely.