Developer Bungie's impending first-person shooter (FPS) "Destiny" is gunning for a Sept. 9 release and experts forecast that the hotly-anticipated videogame will garner 10 million users on the day of release itself.
Several pundits are of the opinion that Destiny is set to revolutionize the gaming industry just like Bungie's popular Halo franchise. Destiny is touted as the most expensive video game ever made in the world and considering that the developer has signed a 10-year publishing contract with Activision, there's plenty of action avid gamers can look forward to in the coming years.
"I think a lot of franchises get built game-to-game, or month-to-month--the moment really determines the momentum of the franchise," said Eric Hirshberg, Activision's Publishing CEO. "Bungie aren't just thinking about the content that goes on the first disc; they're thinking about a ten-year story. They're thinking about a Lord of the Rings-sized narrative. How do you build a lasting franchise? How do you design something that, from day one, is built to last?"
Destiny, it is being said, has the fire power to surpass the cultural influence created by Halo and is in the same league as popular cult fantasy franchises like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
The popularity of the upcoming game can be gauged from the fact that it's become the maximum pre-ordered entertainment software ever. What's more, the game's beta demo release in July garnered a phenomenal response with nearly 4.6 million playing the version. This figure is indicative that the 10 million user mark predicted for release day is not far-fetched.
Adding to Destiny's surrounding hype is the fact that Paul Mc Cartney is the composer of its soundtrack. Moreover, he has also written the theme song for Destiny. Bungie also has plenty of marketing ploys up its sleeve to promote Destiny post release. The developer also intends to release three expansions, the first of which "The Dark Below" will launch in December.
Bobby Kotick, Activision's CEO is optimistic that Destiny will be "the best-selling new video game IP in history." Kotick feels that Destiny could potentially be the company's billion-dollar baby and join the ranks of Call of Duty and Skylanders.
In August this year, Arvind Bhatia - analyst with Sterne Agee - forecasted that Destiny may notch up between 8 million to15 million units in sales in 2014 itself. Echoing this estimation is research firm Cowen & Company, which is of the opinion that Destiny could surpass the sales figures of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and sell between 10 million to 15 million copies.
With the numbers looking positive for Destiny, it remains to be seen if the FPS can live up to gamers' expectations. Destiny releases for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on Sept. 9.
