A few weeks ago, Bungie announced it would be introducing an experimental PvP playlist to Destiny 2 called Crucible Labs in which players would be able to help test upcoming PvP features. Now, with the release of patch 1.2.1, Crucible Labs is now live, and the very first experimental game mode can now be tested.
According to Bungie’s latest blog post, the first Crucible Labs playlist features a brand new game mode called Showdown. In Showdown, two teams of four vie for dominance by seeing which team can score the most kills in a timed round. There are five rounds in total, and if one team wins three wounds, they win the whole match. However, if each team manages to take two rounds each, the fifth round plays out as a sudden death elimination where each player only gets one life.
The Showdown playlist is also functioning as a sort of dry run for the entire Crucible Labs experiment, and Bungie warns that, even though the playlist should remain available until next Tuesday, June 5, there is a chance that the test might end earlier than that if any major issues come up.
Bungie is also encouraging those who give the Showdown playlist a try to provide feedback via the official Destiny 2 feedback forums. Specifically, Bungie wants to know things like whether or not the mode is fun to play, if there are any spawning issues, if there are certain maps the mode works better or worse on, and whether rounds feel too long or too short. There are more Crucible Labs playtests planned for the future, but for now the inaugural playtest focuses solely on the viability of the Showdown mode.
Crucible Labs could potentially be of great use to Bungie when it comes to designing and testing new PvP content, but here’s hoping the studio also plans to revisit content that’s already in Destiny 2 proper. The game’s existing PvP content is serviceable, but there are undoubtedly changes that more dedicated players would be all too happy to recommend if Bungie were to use the Crucible Labs to revisit more established maps and modes.