Destiny 2 PC open beta start time, system requirements, known issues and more

The Destiny 2 beta is here – and so, remarkably, is everything you need to know to get cracking with it.

Destiny 2 is almost here, but before we can all go gangbusters on it there’s one more round of beta testing – for the PC crowd, this time.

We’ve got all the details you need to ensure you have a smooth experience with Destiny 2 PC beta – system requirements, controls, capture overlay compatibilities, registration and download instructions, known issues and more.

Dive on in and you’ll be able to enjoy the Homecoming story mission and Inverted Spire strike, plus PvP (Crucible) modes Countdown on the Midtown map and Control on Javelin-4. Sounds good, right? You want a piece of that? Awesome. So when can you actually play the Destiny 2 PC beta?

PC beta start times and dates

The Destiny 2 beta went live at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK for those who pre-ordered Destiny 2 on PC or otherwise scored an access code, but everyone else has had to wait a little. Here’s the schedule:

• Early access (pre-orders): August 28, 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK
• Open beta: August 29, 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK
• Beta ends: August 31

We don’t yet have an exact end time, but it probably won’t matter – we can probably expect Bungie to uphold tradition and extend the Destiny 2 PC beta past the announced end date.

Beta client download

You can preload the Destiny 2 beta client in advance of the open beta, so you’re ready to go when the flag drops.

In order to grab the client – and to participate in the Destiny 2 PC beta in general – you’ll need to register for Blizzard’s Battle.net and download the Battle.net desktop client.

That’s because Bungie, a console developer for many years, has elected to lean on its stablemate for support; Destiny 2 will make use of Blizzard’s infrastructure.

You can find assistance in setting up a Blizzard account and access the Destiny 2 beta here.

System requirements and controls

PC gamers don’t just plug and play like console fans do. Let’s take a look at what your PC needs inside in order to run the Destiny 2 beta.

• Beta recommended specs
• CPU: Intel – Core i5-2400, AMD – Ryzen R5 1600X
• GPU: Nvidia – GeForce GTX 970, AMD – Radeon R9 390
• RAM: 8GB

• Beta minimum specs
• CPU: Intel – Core i3-3250, AMD – FX-4350
• GPU: Nvidia – GeForce GTX 660 2GB, AMD – Radeon HD 7850 2GB
• RAM: 6GB

The specs above are for the Destiny 2 PC beta and we don’t have final system requirements, but while you’re here you might want to look over Bungie’s recommended specs, if you plan on upgrading before Destiny 2 releases:

• Release guidance recommended specs
• CPU – Intel Core i5-7400
• GPU – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

• Release guidance minimum specs
• CPU – Intel Pentium G4560
• GPU – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2GB

If you’re looking to get the same performance as we’ve seen in the stunning PC gameplay footage release to date, here are the PC system specs from the Destiny 2 gameplay reveal event

• PC gameplay debut specs
• CPU – Intel i7-7700k
• GPU – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti 11GB

As you’d damn well hope, the PC version of Destiny 2 supports mouse and keyboard controls. You can absolutely rebind these as you see fit, but here are Bungie’s default settings:

Comms, capture and overlays

The Destiny 2 PC beta comes with in-built communications tools, so even if you don’t have a third-party app set up already you can chat with your fellow Guardian testers. Here are the details:

• /f: fireteam chat (party only)
• /w: whisper (friendslist only)
• T: cycle chat visual modes

By the way, Bungie intends to add a Team channel to chat, similar to voice chat, as well as whispers to clan members – but these features will not be accessible during the beta.

Those of you who do use third-party communications need to be aware of a few limitations, which also pertain to capture and performance tools. Basically, Destiny 2 won’t play nice with overlays. Bungie has said this is to guard against certain cheating methods.

But hey – there’s good news too. As detailed in the links in the preceding paragraph, Destiny 2 allows you to set an upper frame rate limit or go uncapped, and the PC beta includes a new PvP map not seen in the console test.

Known issues and error codes

Bungie is generally pretty communicative on error codes, and this being a beta, you can expect to see more than a few along the way. On consoles, Destiny 2 error codes are usually animal names, but things seem a bit more varied over on PC.

We will track Destiny 2 PC beta error codes such as Chive and Saxaphone in a dedicated article, which will be updated whenever new information comes to hand.

In the meantime, check in with these known issues from the Destiny 2 PC beta:

• Players may encounter issues when playing the Destiny 2 Beta with drivers that are out of date. Updating drivers to the latest version grants the best experience when playing Destiny 2 on PC.
• The Destiny 2 Beta may not run when installed to a folder with some localized character types in its name (e.g. Greek, Cyrillic, Kanji, etc.). Players should ensure that they install the Beta to a path that does not include these character types, or use the default install location.
• Players may encounter issues when joining the Fireteam of another player on their same local area network. Players who encounter this issue should ensure that they have UPnP enabled in their network settings.
• MSAA is still under development. As such, players may encounter various issues including visual artifacts and performance degradation when using MSAA.
• Multi-GPU support is still in development. Players may encounter issues including visual artifacts and performance impacts when using NVIDIA SLI. AMD Crossfire support is not available in the Destiny 2 PC Beta.
• The Destiny 2 Beta must be launched from Blizzard’s Battle.net app. If players launch the Beta client directly from the executable, they may receive an error message or the Destiny 2 Beta client may become unresponsive. Players who encounter this issue should close the Beta client through the user interface or by pressing Alt+F4, and proceed to launch the Destiny 2 Beta using the “Play” button in the Destiny 2 tab of the Blizzard app.

PC beta testers benefit from a number of changes to Destiny 2 made since the console beta, ranging from bug fixes to balance adjustments. Poor old console players were lumped with a months-old build with frustratingly slow supers and piss-weak grenades.

Bungie has said that PC players are day one first-class citizens in Destiny 2, which is reassuring. Certainly the settings and options available to PC players look pretty promising.

Anything else you need to know? Maybe our Destiny 2 beta guide will help you out. Most of it should be applicable to the PC build, although Bungie has, alas, closed the exploits and glitches we so lovingly pinpointed for it.

Destiny 2 will release for PC on October 24.

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