"Destiny" is receiving its last DLC expansion, "Rise of Iron," this coming September and will feature Lord Saladin, originally just an NPC vendor, as a prominent character. As stated by Venture Beat, this indicates that Bungie is going to be following the same release pattern and launch "Destiny 2" around September 2017.
Game director Scott Taylor stated in the report that the sequel will see the NPCs play a much larger role than just being a merchant for in-game items or a static character to spill out quests. The company has already done this with the way the DLC packs for the first game expanded the roles of Xur and Cryptarch.
"When I look at the universe of Destiny, I see a lot of opportunity to tell stories about these characters that - you look at the Cryptarch and Xur, we don't know much about them, but they're cool characters," Taylor explained. "I'm curious about them. I want to know more about the Cryptarch. He seems mean. What's going on with Xur?"
Taylor further explained that the developers are trying to make newer opportunities for these NPCs to get a moment to shine in the game and this is where the DLC expansions come in. "Destiny 2" is speculated to have this mindset already in the base game meaning the NPCs in "Destiny 2" will be more interactive that the first game's initial campaign.
As noted by Game N Guide, fans speculate that the game will launch in September 2017 given that the "Rise of Iron" DLC for the first game is coming this September and because the first game itself launched in September 2014.
If Bungie is consistent with their release windows then it is likely the sequel will launch in the same time frame unless pushed back by production delays. However, it is noted that the September window and the pre-holiday sales fever have boosted the sales of the franchise thus far, indicating Bungie would have no reason to deviate from it.
Bungie has yet to make an official announcement regarding the release date of "Destiny 2."
