Destiny 2 accidentally made its premium Dawning holiday event card free

Another update, another hiccup in Destiny 2. The Dawning event, the winter holiday event for the game, began on December 10, and while its new dragon-themed armor was getting the initial attention, Bungie accidentally made the event’s optional paid event card free for players to claim.

The studio was quick to correct its mistake, but it’s just yet another glaring issue added to the steady stream of bugs and missteps that have plagued Episode: Revenant.

During the Dawning, the Tower gets decked out in lights, Eva Levante shows up to help Guardians bake cookies, and snowballs appear in certain activities. While many players will spend their time baking, the cosmetic rewards are the real draw of the holiday. Alongside the new draconic appearance, Bungie also offered its typical paid event card, but it was accidentally made free for those who were quick enough before the studio swooped back in to disable it.

Bah humbugs

While it doesn’t reward any gear or upgrade materials, the premium event card for the Dawning does offer exclusive access to certain event-specific cosmetics. When players upgrade to the premium Dawning event card, they’ll immediately unlock a holiday-wrapped present-themed sparrow called Gift Wrapped, a blue and purple shader that perfectly compliments the dragon-themed cosmetics, and the Cozy Cat Emote that lets Guardians sit by a fireplace with their pet cat. Additional rewards are available through the premium event card, but those must be unlocked with Event Tickets earned by completing Event Challenges.

Once Bungie realized the premium Dawning event card was bugged to be freely given to early players, the studio quickly removed the entire event card system from Destiny 2. While this was only temporary, and both the free and premium event cards are now available again, there was a period where player participation was not tracked toward appropriate Event Challenge progress. That said, players who lucked out will not lose what they gained. “Players who obtained the Dawning Event Card Upgrade while it was incorrectly listed at no cost will keep it. Bank error in your favor – Happy Dawning,” the studio commented.

More coal in your stocking

Image via Bungie

A wonky event card is one thing, but that’s not all that’s wrong with 2024’s Dawning holiday. Bungie has confirmed several issues, including Dawning weapons not being focusable or rolling with the intended double Perks. Some holiday-related Triumphs are also seemingly broken, and players have both become stuck during the initial Dawning Quests or have been unable to start the event with additional characters after initially commencing the Dawning with a different character.

Episode: Revenant was already messy between Weightgate and the recent Tonic controversy. Now, the Dawning is here and stuffed with bugs and issues, too. It’s just further fuel on the fire for Bungie’s already precarious predicament, and the Destiny 2 community is reaching its wits’ end. Destiny 2 content creator RickKackis said, “The Dawning Event Card is Glitched and ends up being removed[,] Double Perks on Dawning Weapons don’t work[,] If you switch characters your quest progress is lost Bungie, just give the damn Event Card to Every Destiny 2 Player. There’s not many players left. Treat them well.”

Bungie has been communicative since the start of the Dawning, noting and following up on each identified issue as solutions are reached. The studio has shared that the Dawning event card is working back in-game and that weapon focusing should be working as intended. As for the other issues plaguing the event, hopefully, Bungie can right the ship before it saps the holiday spirit and goodwill out of the players sticking around.

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