Destiny matched Call of Duty in at least one way during its first week

Destiny
Bungie and Activision made something beautiful but divisive

Like a black hole in space, Bungie's Destiny sucked up anything that came near it in its first week, particularly money and time.

The sci-fi shooter grossed more than $325 million (about £200m, AU$360m) worldwide in its first five days available, and Destiny players logged 100 million or so hours online and participated in 137 million activities in the first week, according to Activision.

That makes it the best-selling new gaming franchise launch of all time, the publisher said.

In addition Activision said those first-week engagement metrics are on par with Call of Duty, though Destiny's actual sales still pale in comparison to that staggeringly popular franchise (Call of Duty: Ghosts made $1 billion (about £611m, AU$1.1b) on its first day in 2013, according to the publisher).

Only the beginning

Destiny players control "Guardians" wielding special powers derived from an ancient and enormous space-faring orb. With a focus on online play the game has many elements of popular "massively multiplayer" titles like World of Warcraft.

Destiny received mixed reviews from critics, but based on these numbers it seems the Bungie legacy and the Activision hype machine were enough to sway players in its favor anyway.

In June Bungie told TechRadar that Destiny's end-game content would "blow players' minds," and now that the game is out some players are still waiting for that to happen.

But "this is just the beginning," Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said in the press release sent out today. "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 already added some new content, including a challenge mission for especially skilled players, so it seems what's available now may indeed be "just the beginning."

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.