Here's exactly when you can play Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

After years of maneuvering behind the scenes, manipulating some of Destiny 2’s major story arcs, the evil alien Hive God Savathûn is about to take the spotlight in The Witch Queen, a massive new expansion for the game.

As is the case with many major live service game updates, The Witch Queen may have a specific release date, but the time at which it launches isn’t at the stroke of midnight. For any Guardians out there eager to step into Savathûn’s Throne World to uncover its mysteries, you’ll want to know the finer details of this expansion’s launch, including when the update goes live — and what else to expect.

When is the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen launch time?

Say goodbye to Beyond Light: Just like every previous major update, Destiny 2 will be taken totally offline for maintenance as it transitions into the new era of The Witch Queen. Per Bungie’s official schedule, the game’s servers will be offline for close to 15 hours. Here’s a closer look at the timeline, as revealed in the February 17 “This Week at Bungie” (TWAB) blog post:

• February 21, 9:45 p.m. Eastern: Destiny 2 is brought offline.
• February 21, 10 p.m. Eastern: Pre-load for Update 4.0.0.1 will be available on all platforms.
• February 22, 12 p.m. Eastern: Destiny 2 will be brought back online. Update 4.0.0.1 will be playable on all platforms and regions.
• February 22, 1 p.m. Eastern: Destiny 2 maintenance is scheduled to complete.

Typically, Destiny 2’s weekly reset occurs around 12 p.m. noon on Tuesdays, which may still be the case when March 1 rolls around. But for The Witch Queen’s rollout, expect it to happen around 1 p.m. Also, note that Bungie says that’s when “maintenance is scheduled to complete.” In other words, 1 p.m. is the absolute earliest we can expect — and it could have minor delays depending on various factors.

Is there a Destiny 2: The Witch Queen launch trailer?

Yes! Watch it here.

The 2:22 (lol!) trailer focuses almost entirely on story elements. “Hello, old friend,” Savathûn says to someone we don’t see. “I’ve chased you for a long time.”

She could be talking to Xivu Arath, the only other living Hive God of her caliber, with the late Oryx being the third. Alternatively, she could be talking to some being related to the Light. The Hive are one of the alien species closely associated with the Darkness, but we know for a fact that The Witch Queen will see Savathûn claim the Light for herself and her Lucent Brood of lieutenants.

Ikora Rey, the Vanguard Warlock, is our human leader in this upcoming conflict. We see her and other familiar faces land on Mars (which has been inaccessible and shrouded in Darkness since November 2020) to investigate a mysterious ship.

Most of the trailer’s action is set within Savathûn’s Throne World, an overcomplicated space magic concept involving cyst universes within an extradimensional plane of existence where the monarch has total control. Needless to say, it will be a dangerous place.

What is the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen file size?

She’s a big one. Across pretty much all platforms, it’s recommended that players have at least 105 GB of storage space for The Witch Queen. That’s consistent across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Keep in mind that this may not include pre-existing game files. Like Mercury, Io, and Titan before it, the Tangled Shore destination is going into Bungie’s content vault, and that includes a few questlines set there. Mars has also been in the vault for some time, but will seemingly be restored in The Witch Queen. There are some interesting story reasons for all of the above, but the purpose of vaulting locations seems mainly to keep the game’s overall size and scope more manageable. It also gives developers time to update said locations while they’re offline.

In any case, make sure you have plenty of room on your hard drive if you want to get in on the action as soon as possible.