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[LegendofLex]

They didn't spend 500 million on Destiny, my god why is there still misinformation. The budget is for the entire franchise that Activision currently is willing to spend. GTA V had a budget of 265M and that game had a gigantic marketing. Destiny's marketing or production values aren't even close to GTA.

Activision Blizzard Inc intends to spend $500 million developing and promoting "Destiny," potentially breaking industry records as it seeks to build the sci-fi role-playing videogame into its next multibillion-dollar franchise.

CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the number, which dwarfs Hollywood spending on some of its biggest firms, during the Milken conference in Los Angeles last week. A company spokesperson said on Monday the number was accurate but also included marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties and other costs.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/06/us-activision-destiny-idUKBREA4501F20140506

As for follow-up comments from Bungie: Bungie ain't the publisher, and apparently didn't even accurately describe the game they were developing. So why would they accurately describe the publishing costs?

 

[Messofanego]

And that's the real catch.

The actual price of a game like this over the course of its life will not be $60. It actually usually ends up being in the ballpark between $33-$44. So it's not really 15 million, its quite a bit more.

Wait, more than 15 million copies need to be sold from this franchise of 3 games to make a profit? And then there's taking the anatomy of a $60 box into account. Damn.

 

[speculawyer]

That is probably somewhat accurate but I'd take those numbers with a grain of salt. The split is different for different games (they all have different levels of returns and sometimes they get different rates for other aspects). And that chart was made by OnLive who was trying to get publishers to move to their game streaming platform.

 

[cchum]

Wait, more than 15 million copies need to be sold from this franchise of 3 games to make a profit? And then there's taking the anatomy of a $60 box into account. Damn.

Doesn't factor in DLC, so that's a bit overstated

 

[Koren]

That's... half a Mojang?

I don't see what's really surprising about the 15 millions, hasn't they spent something like 500 millions in development and advertising?

I'd say it's even a conservative estimate, if they don't sell a lot of DLC, since there's a definitive possibility of price reduction...

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Being the best selling new IP OF ALL TIME isn't enough!?

I'm saying it again: this generation will be iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.

Not when you've spent $500m and still have $175m worth of inventory sitting on store shelves.

Certainly they weren't thinking this would sell out in DAYS, did they? It's not even 4Q! AND defraying of the cost thru sequels (which is where a real problem would be, I guess)?

 

[BishopLamont]

Its like the investors don't even know how games sell.

 

[maabus1999]

Don't forget the retailers get their cut, Sony/MS their licensing fees etc. I think there was a breakdown which said publishers get $27 for each $60 game they sell. They'll get less for sales at lower prices.

$30 out of a $60 game is Activision's implied cut of the total sale in the calculation, retailers are outside that figure.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

They weren't being deceptive at all so I don't know how this could turn into a lawsuit

YOU obviously haven't seen the Destiny demonstration demo.

 

[BengaBenga]

And as usual on GAF whenever economics are discussed there's hardly any coprehension of the fact that merely making a high turnover means nothing. Companies like Activision exist for the very simple reason to generate value, . Breaking even is terrible, as it means the company is not even capable of making more money than putting it on the bank.

Activision invests $500 million to make at least $600 million (ROI of 20%, which is probably still low for a game) - and with amounts that are as high as what's invested in Destiny it's likely discounting will start playing a role, which makes the needed returns even higher.

Investors are not stupid. Massive swings in share price doesn't come from a couple of individuals. This comes from big institutional investors selling as they understand that Activision will very likely never make a decent return on the investments in Destiny.

Shareholders understand that videogames, especially blockbusters like Destiny, are selling a huge percentage of their total in the first couple of days. Destiny selling ~$500 million - which doesn't all go to Activision - is obviously very good, but with $200 million of that still on storeshelves, shareholders simply don't believe Activision will make money anymore on what's its most important new series. A brandname that's tarnished by bad review scores as well.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Shareholders understand that videogames, especially blockbusters like Destiny, are selling a huge percentage of their total in the first couple of days. Destiny selling ~$500 million - which doesn't all go to Activision - is obviously very good, but with $200 million of that still on storeshelves, shareholders simply don't believe Activision will make money anymore on what's its most important new series. A brandname that's tarnished by bad review scores as well.

Yes, sales of new Destiny discs will likely tank once Gamestop has a large stock of cheaper used discs on the shelves from trade-ins. Used stock should be enough to satisfy post-launch demand. Sales will likely drop off like they drove over a cliff, Thelma & Louise style.

 

[LegendofLex]

Certainly they weren't thinking this would sell out in DAYS, did they? It's not even 4Q! AND defraying of the cost thru sequels (which is where a real problem would be, I guess)?

Based on the release timing, they certainly thought they needed the market berth offered by a non-holiday release. But the historical trend has been toward stronger up-front sales and smaller tails for all but a select few games (and even those are still very front-ended).

 

[Violence Jack]

Now THATS a loot drop.

Read this at least 20 times now, still can't stop laughing. Well played.

 

[Aquamarine]

And as usual on GAF whenever economics are discussed there's hardly any coprehension of the fact that merely making a high turnover means nothing. Companies like Activision exist for the very simple reason to generate value, . Breaking even is terrible, as it means the company is not even capable of making more money than putting it on the bank.

Activision invests $500 million to make at least $600 million (ROI of 20%, which is probably still low for a game) - and with amounts that are as high as what's invested in Destiny it's likely discounting will start playing a role, which makes the needed returns even higher.

Investors are not stupid. Massive swings in share price doesn't come from a couple of individuals. This comes from big institutional investors selling as they understand that Activision will very likely never make a decent return on the investments in Destiny.

Shareholders understand that videogames, especially blockbusters like Destiny, are selling a huge percentage of their total in the first couple of days. Destiny selling ~$500 million - which doesn't all go to Activision - is obviously very good, but with $200 million of that still on storeshelves, shareholders simply don't believe Activision will make money anymore on what's its most important new series. A brandname that's tarnished by bad review scores as well.

Why the hostility?

But yeah...you're right. Value and growth.

I do think the sudden stock downturn is more than just your typical buy / sell market. I do think we're starting to see investors getting cold feet on Destiny's potential.

It has BIG shoes to fill, and anything significantly less than a GTA-level of success is unacceptable for the Destiny series. That mean we need to see 9 million MINIMUM in USA lifetime retail sell-through.

If September NPD comes out and Destiny sell-through isn't similar to Call of Duty / GTA 5 launches, we might see even more stock declines.

 

[BishopLamont]

And as usual on GAF whenever economics are discussed there's hardly any coprehension of the fact that merely making a high turnover means nothing. Companies like Activision exist for the very simple reason to generate value, . Breaking even is terrible, as it means the company is not even capable of making more money than putting it on the bank.

Activision invests $500 million to make at least $600 million (ROI of 20%, which is probably still low for a game) - and with amounts that are as high as what's invested in Destiny it's likely discounting will start playing a role, which makes the needed returns even higher.

Investors are not stupid. Massive swings in share price doesn't come from a couple of individuals. This comes from big institutional investors selling as they understand that Activision will very likely never make a decent return on the investments in Destiny.

Shareholders understand that videogames, especially blockbusters like Destiny, are selling a huge percentage of their total in the first couple of days. Destiny selling ~$500 million - which doesn't all go to Activision - is obviously very good, but with $200 million of that still on storeshelves, shareholders simply don't believe Activision will make money anymore on what's its most important new series. A brandname that's tarnished by bad review scores as well.

Its the start of the new generation and its a new IP that just launched. You can't expect it to sell it with the same volume and pace as an established brand like CoD does.

Why the hostility?

But yeah...you're right. Value and growth.

I do think the sudden stock downturn is more than just your typical buy / sell market. I do think we're starting to see investors getting cold feet on Destiny's potential.

It has BIG shoes to fill, and anything significantly less than a GTA-level of success is unacceptable for the Destiny series. That mean we need to see 9 million MINIMUM in USA lifetime retail sell-through.

If September NPD comes out and Destiny sell-through isn't similar to Call of Duty / GTA 5 launches, we might see even more stock declines.

You're expecting a bit much for the first game of a new IP don't you think? Its way too early to call how well it'll sell over the long run.

 

[Aquamarine]

You're expecting a bit much for the first game of a new IP don't you think? Its way too early to call how well it'll sell over the long run.

Destiny doesn't need to sell 9 million in the USA right this second...maybe over a couple of iterations in 2 years. But it has to happen with the series.

I'm thinking like an impatient investor who's anxious to see the limits of Destiny's potential.

If Destiny is a slow-burner over the next decade, investors will get cold feet much more quickly.

It needs to show a dramatically successful impact NOW to prove that it's Activision's next blockbuster and all that unprecedented investment is worth it.

GTA 5 / Call of Duty performances are the best metrics investors have to gauge whether or not the game is going to be successful. So its launch should be at least somewhat similar to Call of Duty / GTA 5.

 

[BengaBenga]

Why the hostility?

Yes, you're right. That probably wasn't needed. However this happens in basically every thread that is about financials and it's just a shame that it kills discussions about the topic.

I do think the sudden stock downturn is more than just your typical buy / sell market. I do think we're starting to see investors getting cold feet on Destiny's potential.

It has BIG shoes to fill, and anything significantly less than a GTA-level of success is unacceptable for the Destiny series. That mean we need to see 9 million MINIMUM in USA lifetime retail sell-through.

If September NPD comes out and Destiny sell-through isn't similar to Call of Duty / GTA 5 launches, we might see even more stock declines.

With game budgets now increasing to ridiculous $100 million plus numbers, we will see that even massive companies like Activision will feel the pain if games don't sell 10 million copies. This trend started in the last gen and will continue until shareholders put a stop to it - which we could see the start of now.

 

[baconcow]

Tidal wave of ruthless negativity around this game.

Must be. I get why people do not like the story or bullet sponges, but the gameplay is excellent. While bosses are bullet sponges, the regular enemies can easily be killed in one or two well-aimed shots, not something possible with the majority of Halo weapons. Also, the PVP is better, if played as a well-coordinated team of 3 or 6.

I think the bullet sponge noses can be easily fixed by having more higher critical hit zones that are not easy to hit and require coordinated teamwork to distract the enemy or something, while going for them. The boss it zone structure is just too simplistic.

 

[baconcow]

Wait, more than 15 million copies need to be sold from this franchise of 3 games to make a profit? And then there's taking the anatomy of a $60 box into account. Damn.

That retail margin is not always accurate for all games. That, alone, makes this graphic innacurate.

 

[BengaBenga]

Its the start of the new generation and its a new IP that just launched. You can't expect it to sell it with the same volume and pace as an established brand like CoD does.

You're expecting a bit much for the first game of a new IP don't you think? Its way too early to call how well it'll sell over the long run.

It's not about what I expect, it's about what the shareholders expect - and they clearly expect a decent profit, which means they expect approximately 20 million copies sold for the investment of 500 million. Whether that's for one game or more depends on what's covered in the investment budget.

The new IP argument doesn't mean anything, especially not with the low review scores, as Activision thought it was a good business decision to pit half a billion dollar into that new IP.

 

[BishopLamont]

Destiny doesn't need to sell 9 million in the USA right this second...maybe over a couple of iterations in a couple of years. But it has to happen with the series.

I'm thinking like an impatient investor who's anxious to see the limits of Destiny's potential.

If Destiny is a slow-burner over the next decade, investors will get cold feet much more quickly.

It needs to show a dramatically successful impact NOW to prove that it's Activision's next blockbuster and all that unprecedented ROI is worth it.

GTA 5 / Call of Duty success is the best metric investors have to gauge whether or not the game is successful. So its launch should be at least somewhat similar to Call of Duty / GTA 5.

It might have a huge launch but it'll never keep up with the established brands like CoD and GTA. For that, the hope falls solely on its next few sequels.

Its got a good headstart on other new IPs by launching this early (relatively) and this well by taking advantage of the new-gen hype, lets see if its a game people actually want to stick around for the whole generation after the this initial hype fades away.

It's not about what I expect, it's about what the shareholders expect - and they clearly expect a decent profit, which means they expect approximately 20 million copies sold for the investment of 500 million. Whether that's for one game or more depends on what's covered in the investment budget.

The new IP argument doesn't mean anything, especially not with the low review scores, as Activision thought it was a good business decision to pit half a billion dollar into that new IP.

Of course the new IP means something if you're comparing to to huge established franchises. The game just launched, investors are jumping the gun a bit doubting its potential already.

Another factor is that the userbase for next-gen consoles just isn't there yet to expect massive returns and sales so quick, even established brands will be some what held back by the userbase, its the reason why so many games are still cross-gen.

 

[Loxley]

Advanced Warfare + Warlords of Draenor should more than make up for the decline.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Poor reviews probably hurt the long term potential of Destiny.

As well as the actual quality of the game.

 

[The_R3medy]

The fuck were these people expecting????

 

[SURGEdude]

I know people like me were a tiny minority but it speaks to the legs this game might have. I had it preordered after enjoying the beta but not really being crazy about it. I just figured I haven't played a shooter in a while so why not. But I didn't bother picking it up after being busy the first few days, then reading the reviews hearing feedback, and then playing a bit at a friend's place. I might grab it in a while on the cheap, but not at that price. Certainly not going to be a whale buying tons of DLC for it like they planned.

Having only played a couple hours outside of the beta it doesn't seem likely to fill the void of the dying slowly behemoth that is CoD. Despite the positive impressions preorders are terrible and Activision burned a lot of energy pushing Destiny that took the focus off CoD when they least could afford it.

Acti has been lucky as hell to go from Tony Hawk--> Guitar Hero--> CoD/Hooking up with Blizzard. But right now I think investors are realizing Destiny isn't likely the IP that they hoped it was. CoD, WoW and Skylanders are all in decline, and this was their next planned megafranchise. Frankly it was insane to assume they would continue to have a blockbuster company-defining new IP come in right as the last one is imploding like in the past.

Activision's real problem is they never bothered to diversify much after those megahits. Destiny not being the next big thing would have been far easier on the shareholders if it had been launched before they let CoD run for as long as it has. But they didn't do much building when the money was rolling in and it could damage them big time in the next few years.

Of course who knows it could be an Assassins Creed type IP and pick up with a sequel. It seems to me more to be a Medal of Honor or perhaps something medium sized like Saints Row. But they were hoping for GTA. And AC was unique and despite being not very good it had a pretty clear set of fixes to make it more mainstreamy. Destiny seems to be a mess with no real direction or strength and a bland story that will do shit for TV/film adaptations or mech. And even if a sequel does better that's far away from no. Unless I'm wrong I think they are most concerned about the impact on selling tons of DLC with so many unhappy or disinterested launch buyers. At best they are going to have to put out more content for less money than they would have if the game had been loved by all.

If I had shares I would just be glad as hell they have Blizzard, even with the declining WoW and a long wait until their next Starcraft/ (theoretical) Diablo or expansion for D3.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

According to Bungie, no they didn't.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-budget-nowhere-near-500-million-bungie-says/1100-6420802/

According to Activision, the one footing the bill, they did.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=891704

 

[a916]

And as usual on GAF whenever economics are discussed there's hardly any coprehension of the fact that merely making a high turnover means nothing. Companies like Activision exist for the very simple reason to generate value, . Breaking even is terrible, as it means the company is not even capable of making more money than putting it on the bank.

Activision invests $500 million to make at least $600 million (ROI of 20%, which is probably still low for a game) - and with amounts that are as high as what's invested in Destiny it's likely discounting will start playing a role, which makes the needed returns even higher.

Investors are not stupid. Massive swings in share price doesn't come from a couple of individuals. This comes from big institutional investors selling as they understand that Activision will very likely never make a decent return on the investments in Destiny.

Shareholders understand that videogames, especially blockbusters like Destiny, are selling a huge percentage of their total in the first couple of days. Destiny selling ~$500 million - which doesn't all go to Activision - is obviously very good, but with $200 million of that still on storeshelves, shareholders simply don't believe Activision will make money anymore on what's its most important new series. A brandname that's tarnished by bad review scores as well.

But anyone that's into investing knows the Mr Market analogy... of either the stock market is overly optimistic or manically depressed, rarely ever in between.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

According to Activision, the one footing the bill, they did.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=891704

If 70% of that $500m went to marketing, which is likely, I can see how Bungie would think that, no, Destiny didn't cost anywhere close to $500m to develop.

And they would be right.

 

[pedrothelion]

According to Activision, the one footing the bill, they did.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=891704

You could defiantly read different things into that statement. I think it's more of PR/marketing statement to drum up hype and attention.

 

[silvermember]

Advanced Warfare + Warlords of Draenor should more than make up for the decline.

Maybe, but it still left a big hole in their net income and it still consider a failure. And given the recent WOW numbers there isn't any real certainty it will be doing gangbusters either.

If 70% of that $500m went to marketing, which is likely, I can see how Bungie would think that, no, Destiny didn't cost anywhere close to $500m to develop.

And they would be right.

That would be right, but it is still part of the expense related to destiny. So that still makes is a 500 million failure.

 

[BokehKing]

YOU obviously haven't seen the Destiny demonstration demo.

Why are we harping on a damn video when we had our hands on an alpha and Beta that showed us what we were getting


Gamers, I swear, so... Entitled with out knowing half of what goes into making a game.

 

[gatti-man]

I know people like me were a tiny minority but it speaks to the legs this game might have. I had it preordered after enjoying the beta but not really being crazy about it. I just figured I haven't played a shooter in a while so why not. But I didn't bother picking it up after being busy the first few days, then reading the reviews hearing feedback, and then playing a bit at a friend's place. I might grab it in a while on the cheap, but not at that price. Certainly not going to be a whale buying tons of DLC for it like they planned.

Having only played a couple hours outside of the beta it doesn't seem likely to fill the void of the dying slowly behemoth that is CoD. Despite the positive impressions preorders are terrible and Activision burned a lot of energy pushing Destiny that took the focus off CoD when they least could afford it.

Acti has been lucky as hell to go from Tony Hawk--> Guitar Hero--> CoD/Hooking up with Blizzard. But right now I think investors are realizing Destiny isn't likely the IP that they hoped it was. CoD, WoW and Skylanders are all in decline, and this was their next planned megafranchise. Frankly it was insane to assume they would continue to have a blockbuster company-defining new IP come in right as the last one is imploding like in the past.

Activision's real problem is they never bothered to diversify much after those megahits. Destiny not being the next big thing would have been far easier on the shareholders if it had been launched before they let CoD run for as long as it has. But they didn't do much building when the money was rolling in and it could damage them big time in the next few years.

Of course who knows it could be an Assassins Creed type IP and pick up with a sequel. It seems to me more to be a Medal of Honor or perhaps something medium sized like Saints Row. But they were hoping for GTA. And AC was unique and despite being not very good it had a pretty clear set of fixes to make it more mainstreamy. Destiny seems to be a mess with no real direction or strength and a bland story that will do shit for TV/film adaptations or mech. And even if a sequel does better that's far away from no. Unless I'm wrong I think they are most concerned about the impact on selling tons of DLC with so many unhappy or disinterested launch buyers. At best they are going to have to put out more content for less money than they would have if the game had been loved by all.

If I had shares I would just be glad as hell they have Blizzard, even with the declining WoW and a long wait until their next Starcraft/ (theoretical) Diablo or expansion for D3.

Destiny is so far the next big IP. What did COD sell on its first game launch week? Not 3-4 million.

Destiny as a new IP is a success. Whether Activision over spent on advertising or development we do not know regardless of vague statements people are drumming up. Destiny is poised to sell a ton more copies in the near future. We have black Friday on the way and the xmas holiday. Then Christmas hits with the new DLC. I could see Destiny at 7-8 million sold by christmas time. Then you throw in DLC sales and the game is hitting full stride. Its up to bungie to execute and keep its community entertained.

 

[DSN2K]

good news for Destiny fans, means Bungie will be actively improving the free base game to make sure the IP doesn't fall by the time Destiny 2 hits.

 

[gatti-man]

Maybe, but it still left a big hole in their net income and it still consider a failure. And given the recent WOW numbers there isn't any real certainty it will be doing gangbusters either.


That would be right, but it is still part of the expense related to destiny. So that still makes is a 500 million failure.

Haha man. Pack it up boys Destiny is a failure. Lmao. No Axe to grind here....

 

[Belfast]

It is an overreaction, but anything that could light a fire under Bungie's ass to improve the game in short order is fine by me.

 

[speculawyer]

Shareholders are stupid sheep who deserve to exist in a circle of hell full of fecal matter storms, buried up to their necks in said fecal matter.

Have any money in a retirement account or a mutual fund? Well then start burying yourself in fecal matter.

 

[nomis]

People aren't very smart if they're doomsaying. This just in: I predict Lionsgate stock will go DOWN after the record-breaking release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1!

People sell part of their stock to cash in when it's super high.

 

[silvermember]

Haha man. Pack it up boys Destiny is a failure. Lmao. No Axe to grind here....

it seems to be a financial failure, so far. Especially given the fact that Activision blizzard just lost 1.5 billion dollars in value.

You can all it an "axe" to grind or whatever will make you happy and discredit me, I don't care. It still doesn't change the fact that is a financial failure so far. There is no indication that the game will sell as much as Activision Blizzard hoped it will when it invested 500 million INCLUDING marketing on the game.

People aren't very smart if they're doomsaying. This just in: I predict Lionsgate stock will go DOWN after the record-breaking release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1!

People sell part of their stock to cash in when it's super high.

Your attempt at humor doesn't do a great job at masking your ignorance at WHY the investors are no pleased.

 

[Karak]

If 70% of that $500m went to marketing, which is likely, I can see how Bungie would think that, no, Destiny didn't cost anywhere close to $500m to develop.

And they would be right.

Correct and every bit of DLC and further sequels also cost money to develop. It is a very interesting situation.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Now THATS a loot drop.

 

[speculawyer]

I know people like me were a tiny minority but it speaks to the legs this game might have. I had it preordered after enjoying the beta but not really being crazy about it. I just figured I haven't played a shooter in a while so why not. But I didn't bother picking it up after being busy the first few days, then reading the reviews hearing feedback, and then playing a bit at a friend's place. I might grab it in a while on the cheap, but not at that price. Certainly not going to be a whale buying tons of DLC for it like they planned.

Having only played a couple hours outside of the beta it doesn't seem likely to fill the void of the dying slowly behemoth that is CoD. Despite the positive impressions preorders are terrible and Activision burned a lot of energy pushing Destiny that took the focus off CoD when they least could afford it.

Acti has been lucky as hell to go from Tony Hawk--> Guitar Hero--> CoD/Hooking up with Blizzard. But right now I think investors are realizing Destiny isn't likely the IP that they hoped it was. CoD, WoW and Skylanders are all in decline, and this was their next planned megafranchise. Frankly it was insane to assume they would continue to have a blockbuster company-defining new IP come in right as the last one is imploding like in the past.

Activision's real problem is they never bothered to diversify much after those megahits. Destiny not being the next big thing would have been far easier on the shareholders if it had been launched before they let CoD run for as long as it has. But they didn't do much building when the money was rolling in and it could damage them big time in the next few years.

Of course who knows it could be an Assassins Creed type IP and pick up with a sequel. It seems to me more to be a Medal of Honor or perhaps something medium sized like Saints Row. But they were hoping for GTA. And AC was unique and despite being not very good it had a pretty clear set of fixes to make it more mainstreamy. Destiny seems to be a mess with no real direction or strength and a bland story that will do shit for TV/film adaptations or mech. And even if a sequel does better that's far away from no. Unless I'm wrong I think they are most concerned about the impact on selling tons of DLC with so many unhappy or disinterested launch buyers. At best they are going to have to put out more content for less money than they would have if the game had been loved by all.

If I had shares I would just be glad as hell they have Blizzard, even with the declining WoW and a long wait until their next Starcraft/ (theoretical) Diablo or expansion for D3.

Great post.

Acti has been lucky as hell to go from Tony Hawk--> Guitar Hero--> CoD/Hooking up with Blizzard.

I wouldn't say it was luck. As much reviled as he is, Bobby has been quite good at doing great acquisitions and deals that have made Activision a LOT of money. However, his hot streak may have ended.

 

[gatti-man]

it seems to be a financial failure, so far. Especially given the fact that Activision blizzard just lost 1.5 billion dollars in value.

You can all it an "axe" to grind or whatever will make you happy and discredit me, I don't care. It still doesn't change the fact that is a financial failure so far. There is no indication that the game will sell as much as Activision Blizzard hoped it will when it invested 500 million INCLUDING marketing on the game.

You have literally zero information to call it a financial failure. New IP are an investment over time. Activision knew this in their original contract hence the 500 million over ten years. You don't know if Activision spent 500 million 400 million or 300 million on this game of Destiny. You simply don't know and to make claims like this especially when we have all seen online games make recoveries (D3 ff14arr). It shows an axe to grind that unfortunately some posters on here seem to be doing.

The game has sold 3-4 million in a week that's a successful IP launch. That's a fact that's what we know. Sales.

 

[Mr.Swag]

And I still don't get the hype

 

[Killer]

so being best selling new ip isn't enough....

 

[rokkerkory]

I don't get how having years to work on the game and almost unlimited amount of resources and money to only have a sub-par outing?

I really love Bungie and all they have done for the industry. Halo re-ignited my love for video games but what a swing and a miss Destiny is.

Only thing that can save it now is pump out now is DLC and populate with valuable content for free.

 

[speculawyer]

You have literally zero information to call it a financial failure. New IP are an investment over time. Activision knew this in their original contract hence the 500 million over ten years. You don't know if Activision spent 500 million 400 million or 300 million on this game of Destiny. You simply don't know and to make claims like this especially when we have all seen online games make recoveries (D3 ff14arr). It shows an axe to grind that unfortunately some posters on here seem to be doing.

The game has sold 3-4 million in a week that's a successful IP launch. That's a fact that's what we know. Sales.

That's just not true. We know the sell-in, the sell-through after 3 days, the reviews, and how the market has reacted. It is just an objective true fact that Bobby is now worth less than he was worth a week ago.

He's still very rich and Activision is going to do fine . . . but the value of the company has dropped by at least a couple billion in reaction to the news about Destiny.

 

[gatti-man]

That's just not true. We know the sell-in, the sell-through after 3 days, the reviews, and how the market has reacted. It is just an objective true fact that Bobby is now worth less than he was worth a week ago.

He's still very rich and Activision is going to do fine . . . but the value of the company has dropped by at least a couple billion in reaction to the news about Destiny.

I guess reading the whole post you quoted is too much to ask. Last paragraph I said the only thing we know is sales. The market has reacted by buying the game.

I know you know better than to blame a stock moving after a big release on investor confidence. It's profit taking often and you don't know one way or the other it's just conjecture skewed to fit an argument. I'm not discussing Koticks net worth I'm saying you and everyone else has no firm numbers on anything but sales as far as how much has been spent on Destiny 1 and calling it a failure when it's sold millions at this point is incredibly premature. It's just pure emotion and desire.

Some people are forgetting this is a series with yearly installments and multiple 30 dollar DLC packs between them.

There will be plenty of profit in the future unless they ignore fixing or adding anything these next few months and destroy the fan base goodwill

People aren't forgetting they are ignoring that fact to suit an argument they choose to make. Bungie already has announced new missions and events happening this month and next month. They have a plan.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Some people are forgetting this is a series with yearly installments and multiple 30 dollar DLC packs between them.

There will be plenty of profit in the future unless they ignore fixing or adding anything these next few months and destroy the fan base goodwill

 

[Ghost_Messiah]

Wait a minute they only shipped 500 million worth of copies? Damn. I thought that number was sold through. Yeah it has to be the game's lukewarm critical reception along with not meeting their probably ridiculous sales estimates. Not really that surprised. The response to Destiny across the Internet is well, just disappointing. If the game hit a 90 plus Metacritic I don't think this would have happened. Where is it at now 75? Investors have to be disappointed with that. Everyone on the planet expected this game to be a critical success and that just hasn't happened.

I'll still be getting the game either way. Just love Bungie's games so much I can't really give their latest game a miss. Still though this is disappointing. Hopefully this doesn't negatively affect Destiny's future moving forward (all the sequels they had planned). Bungie could always take the feedback on board and redeem themselves with Destiny 2.

 

[silvermember]

Some people are forgetting this is a series with yearly installments and multiple 30 dollar DLC packs between them.

There will be plenty of profit in the future unless they ignore fixing or adding anything these next few months and destroy the fan base goodwill

The question is will people care enough to buy it? Since the bad reviews have significantly cut the number of people that would be interested in it which also means less profit. Then you have the fact that, by the time the DLC comes out would it matter? Because a lot of good next gen games will start being release soonish. Finally, with WOW being the only exception games don't significantly grow in installment base over time. so the future DLC has to do the impossible.

Finally, the way stocks and the financial market works those multiple DLC doesn't benefit current investor, it might benefit investors that buy low which is now or those who are hoping for the best.