Activision Blizzard, one of the largest game publishers in the world, has said they intend to spend nearly US$500m on developing and promoting the upcoming game Destiny.
Destiny‘s developer Bungie will receive one of the largest backings ever seen for a video game, placing Destiny in the same league as some of the largest Hollywood blockbusters. Bungie is also behind the popular Halo series.
The company’s CEO Bobby Kotick announced the decision at the Milken Conference held in California and a company spokesperson confirmed it, saying the backing would include a number of sales and promotional activities for the sci-fi shooter. Destiny is due for release on 9 September.
As its flagship gaming series Call of Duty begins to lag in its ability to grow commercially each year, having seen a 6pc drop in 2013, Activision Blizzard will be pinning a lot of its hopes on Destiny to be its next gaming mega-franchise.
According to Reuters, Destiny will need to sell between 15m-16m copies worldwide if it is to break even and sells at a price of US$60 per copy.
However, one analyst, Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee, said they estimate the game is only likely to sell about 8m units.
