Destiny becomes biggest new IP in history, sells in over $500m worth of stock day one

Destiny has become the “biggest new video game franchise launch in history”, Activision has announced, selling in over $500 million worth of stock to retailers on day one.

The game is also the fastest-selling digital console release of all time and, Activision says, is on track to follow Call of Duty and Skylanders to become a new billion dollar franchise.

“Based on extraordinary audience demand, retail and first party orders worldwide have exceeded $500 million for Destiny,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. “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.”

If Activision manages to sell through each unit shipped to retailers so far it will have recouped the costs of Destiny’s reported $500m budget purely on day one stock.

“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,” added Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg.

“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.”

Sales figures for the game have yet to be announced.

Source: Activision