'Destiny' surpasses $500 million mark, highest grossing video game launch ever

(PHOTO: Bungie)A Cinematic screenshot of Destiny, the world's most expensive video game.

Bungie's 'Destiny' has officially traversed the half a billion mark on day one, making it the best-selling video game of all time.

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

"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."

Destiny was released on Sept. 9 and has quickly reaped good reviews from gaming enthusiasts and media alike.

Dave Thier of Forbes feels that the game embodies what it really means to be "next-gen":

"Destiny is the first blockbuster game on consoles (there are other examples, but Destiny is the big one) to embrace this concept whole-heartedly, bolstered by an increasingly connected console base."

Destiny has also broken 'Watch Dogs' record and debuted at the top of the UK charts, displacing EA's 'The Sims 4.'

According to Gamespot, the Destiny PS4 version has the lion's share with 46 percent, but Xbox One is gaining muscle with 36 percent.

Activision and Bungie have signed a $500 million contract for the latter to continue to develop the game in the next ten years.

The initial success of Destiny has proven to be an outstanding start for the two gaming authorities.

"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," Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, said.

Hirshberg continued, "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.

Lastly he added, "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."

Copyright © 2014 Ecumenical News