Activision video game 'Destiny' sets pre-order record - executive
By Malathi Nayak
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Activision Blizzard executive said on Tuesday the company's upcoming "Destiny" shooter game has set a video game industry record as the most pre-ordered new title.
Activision, the largest U.S. video game publisher by revenue, has made a massive bet on "Destiny" by investing $500 million (£297.40 million) to develop and promote the title in a bid to build the sci-fi role-playing videogame into its next multibillion-dollar franchise.
Activision Publishing Chief Executive Eric Hirshberg, speaking at the Gamescom video game conference in Cologne, Germany, said Destiny is "the most pre-ordered new IP (intellectual property) in history," according to video game retailer GameStop.
Investors hope that "Destiny," scheduled for release on September 9 from Bungie, the same studio that created Microsoft's best-selling "Halo" franchise, could re-invigorate Activision's revenue, which slid 6 percent in 2013.
"Destiny" is a combination of a traditional shooting game format and a role-playing game in which gamers play characters in a real-time online world. The title allows gamers to play "Guardians" who protect the last city standing on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
(Reporting by Malathi Nayak; editing by Andrew Hay)
