Activision Clarifies ‘Destiny’ Sales Numbers, Promises Game Will Evolve On PlayStation And Xbox
Activision trumpeted the Destiny sales numbers a day after the game launched on PlayStation and Xbox consoles last week. That initial $500 million figure was for the number of copies sold to stores and not to customers, however. The publisher gave a more definitive number Wednesday based on sales to customers. While it doesn’t reach the $500 million figure, it does indicate a strong start for the new Bungie franchise.
In a press release, Activision announced that Destiny sold-through more than $325 million worldwide in its first five days. That number is based on “Chart-Track, first parties, retail customer sell-through information and Activision Blizzard internal estimates.”
That’s approximately 5.4 million copies sold during that time period if you estimate based on the $60 retail price. The number is likely around 5 million though once you factor in the more expensive Limited Edition and Ghost Edition for Destiny.
Those gamers who did buy the game engorged themselves the first week. Activision states that owners spent more than 100 million hours in the game the first week and took part in 137 million activities.
“‘Destiny’ fans played more than 100 million hours of the game in the first week. That’s on par with the engagement levels of our most popular ‘Call of Duty’ games, which obviously is an industry leader,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing. “Millions of gamers are having a great time playing ‘Destiny’ and can’t put down their controllers. And this is just the beginning. ‘Destiny’ is a platform that will grow and evolve and we will continue to work closely with our partners at Bungie to bring a long line of new experiences and content to life in the game.”
Bungie has a good bit of work to do on growing and evolving Destiny as a platform. Reviews for the online shooter have been mixed at best, with a current Metacritic score of 76 for the PlayStation 4 and 79 for the Xbox One. As the play hours numbers indicate, some players have already blasted through the game and will be looking elsewhere for new experiences if Bungie can’t provide.
The developer took the first steps by opening up the first Raid, “The Vault of Glass,” on Tuesday. This is limited to level 26 and above players who are playing in a group of six friends. There’s no matchmaking, and the initial forays into the Raid took approximately 14 hours to complete. So, it’s not for the faint of heart.
Beyond that, Bungie has already laid out additional content that will be unlocked in the near future, including the Iron Banner multiplayer matches. There’s also two pieces of paid DLC planned over the next year.
Are you looking forward to what additional content Bungie will make available for Destiny? Or will you be moving on to other games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[Images via Bungie]
