Activision has announced that it has ‘sold in’ more than $500 million of Destiny in the games first day of release, and claims this makes the game the biggest new video game franchise launch in history.
Note that the definition of ‘sold in’ means the amount the publisher has sold to retail stores and first parties, rather than the amount ‘sold through’ to customers. The actual sales figures have not been published.
“Based on extraordinary audience demand, retail and first party orders worldwide have exceeded $500 million for Destiny,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said. “This industry milestone marks another blockbuster success for our company and demonstrates our unique ability to create some of the most successful entertainment franchises in the world. The success of Destiny, along with the recent introduction of Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone, is further validation of our unique capabilities to create great entertainment franchises from the ground up.”
Not only does it manage this feat, it has also become the biggest digital console release in history, showing the games popularity on the PS Store and Xbox Store. Destiny also saw more than 11,000 stores open their doors at midnight for its release.
With reports the game cost $500 million to make, should Activision sell through their shipped copies, the company could make its money back on the game with their day one stock.
CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, added: “Since the beginning, we’ve been confident that our investment and belief in Destiny would pay off. But not many people believed we’d be able to say it did so on day one.
“Destiny is officially the biggest new franchise launch in our industry’s history. It’s also the highest-selling day one digital console release in history. We have more confidence than ever that Destiny will become one of the iconic franchises of this generation, and Activision’s next billion dollar brand.
“Most importantly, it’s just a great game which we can’t stop playing. A big thanks to our incredibly talented team and partners who helped make this happen, most importantly, our partners at Bungie.”
What are your thoughts on this? Are you enjoying Destiny at the moment?
