‘Freelance’ playlists coming to Destiny next week

Destiny's February update brings a new 2v2 Crucible mode in celebration of Valentine's Day, but what about those of us Guardians with no one to love? Starting next week, Bungie will finally give us lone wolves the love we deserve — in the form of our very own playlist for solo players only.

"When Rift was the game in Iron Banner, we heard from a lot from solo players who felt sidelined by the team activity. It’s true that a squad of lone wolves who meet for the first time in orbit will almost always find themselves at a disadvantage in a match-up against a Clan that always flies together," Bungie said in this week's blog post. "We’ve heard plenty of chatter from players who want to let matchmaking choose their teammates for them, but wish their opponents would do the same."

To that end, Bungie is adding "Freelance" playlists to Destiny's Crucible. These "mixed-mode" playlists will exist for both 6v6 and 3v3 and are only accessible by solo players — no Fireteams allowed. Set to arrive next week, these playlists will be available "sporadically" on weekly rotators in your Director.

According to designer Jeremiah "Jerpie" Pieschl:

"The design goal of Freelance playlists was to facilitate an even playing field. Both teams will be on equal ground, though an advantage can be gained by opening a voice channel to Team Chat. A secondary goal was to provide playlists with a wider variety of engagements. Featuring mixed-modes with all of their associated maps means players will have a much more diverse experience and see less repetition in the combinations selected by matchmaking."

The Freelance 6v6 will feature a mix of Clash, Control, and Rift matches, while Freelance 3v3 will offer a mix of Elimination, Salvage, and Skirmish.

Freelance playlists aren't the only change coming to Destiny's Crucible. Bungie also announced a change in how Special Ammo will work in certain Crucible modes.