Destiny 2 on Xbox won't connect while Vaulted content is installed

By Luke Albigés,

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set to launch later today, but ahead of the new expansion, Bungie has identified an issue on Xbox that prevents the game from launching while Forsaken or older content is installed. Here's how to fix it...

It wouldn't be a new Destiny 2 expansion without some kind of technical tomfoolery, and this time, it appears that having older expansions still installed on Xbox is forcing the newly updated version of the game into an endless loop of attempting to connect to the servers. While we wait for the inevitable login queues come reset, Xbox players may need to do a little housekeeping with their installed add-ons, or you may not even be able to make it that far in the first place.

How to fix Destiny 2: Lightfall Xbox connection issues

destiny 2 lightfall xbox connection issues

In a Twitter thread courtesy of the BungieHelp account, we're told that the connection issues affecting some Xbox players are apparently related to having older expansions installed — Forsaken and/or anything prior, including smaller preorder item packs and such — seemingly causing some kind of conflict that forces Destiny 2 into an infinite connection loop. To remedy this, you'll need to close the game and hit the Menu button on the Destiny 2 panel on console, then select 'Manage game and add-ons' and hit the top option on the right to see everything you have installed. Now, it's time to say goodbye for good to some of that old content. Per Bungie, these are the things that need to go, although some users have also reported having to remove other old packs in order to connect.
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken - Black Armory
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken - Joker's Wild
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken - Penumbra
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken Annual Pass
  • Expansion I: Curse of Osiris
  • Expansion II: Warmind
Given that servers are down for maintenance ahead of Lightfall's launch, how do you find out if that worked? Thankfully, it's actually very easy to tell. Once you've removed any of that Vaulted content from your console and installed the rather chunky Lightfall update itself (weighing in at over 100GB on Xbox Series X), simply try launching the game. Hit A on that shiny new title screen and one of two things will happen — you'll either get through sign-in quickly as usual and see a 'servers offline' screen currently, which should mean you're good to go, or you'll hang at the 'connecting' stage before reaching that point, which means some of Cayde's stash is still left on your Xbox and will need removing before the game will launch correctly.

With all that sorted, you should be ready to take on the Witness when Lightfall lands later today... but not before you take on those wonderful day-one login queues. While you wait, you can always check out the best free Xbox games to see what else you could be playing during any other Destiny downtime. Let us know how you get on, and we'll see you in the queue Tower!
Luke Albigés
Written by Luke Albigés
Luke runs the TA news team, contributing where he can primarily with reviews and other long-form features — crafts he has honed across two decades of print and online gaming media experience, having worked with the likes of gamesTM, Eurogamer, Play, Retro Gamer, Edge, and many more. He loves all things Monster Hunter, enjoys a good D&D session, and has played way too much Destiny.
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