Bungie, the creators of the Halo® franchise and Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), the creators and publishers of such blockbuster franchises as Call of Duty ® and Skylanders, have joined forces to bring you Destiny, releasing worldwide today at 12:01 midnight 9th September in the UK.
Famous fans of the game, Olympic medallist Anthony Joshua MBE, Manchester United footballer Ashley Young, rapper Professor Green and England Rugby star Danny Care attended the star-studded UK launch last night on London’s Southbank.
Destiny is the most pre-ordered new video game IP in history and has won over 180 awards and nominations, setting the stage for Destiny to become one of the biggest entertainment launches of the year and the next big blockbuster franchise in gaming. In July, over 4.6 million people tested Destiny in what became the biggest console beta of this console generation. Millions are expected to start playing the full game today.
“Destiny has been a labour of love and a remarkable creative journey for everyone at Activision and Bungie,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing Inc. “We feel that we have the opportunity to launch something huge – not just into the gaming landscape, but the pop cultural landscape. Arriving at our launch day with this much support and enthusiasm from fans and retailers is downright exciting. Moments like this just don’t come around very often.”
“Destiny is the game we’ve always wanted to make,” said Harold Ryan, Bungie president. “We’ve dreamt of this universe for years, so we couldn’t be more thrilled to swing open the doors and let fans shape this experience as they tell their unique stories in the game. For us, the next generation of games is all about allowing players to collide and interact with each other as they take on epic, action packed adventures all their own.”
In addition to the launch of the game, the Destiny Expansion Pass is available for purchase. The Expansion Pass will extend the Destiny adventure after the launch of the game, with two expansions, both of which will include brand new story missions, cooperative activities and competitive multiplayer arenas and a wealth of all new weapons, armour and gear to earn. The Expansion Pass is available at a suggested retail price of £34.99, with Expansion I and Expansion II to be priced individually at £19.99 when they launch. Expansion I will launch in December, with Expansion II following.
In Destiny, you are cast as a Guardian of the last city on Earth, able to explore the ancient ruins of our solar system in a social, living universe filled with other players. You will journey through environments spanning the red dunes of Mars to the lush jungles of Venus while creating your own legend as you and your friends venture out into the stars to reclaim the treasures and secrets lost after the collapse of humanity. Over the course of your adventures you will become more powerful, able to wield rare and exotic weapons, gear and super abilities. In addition to the story campaign, you can take your unique character into any co-operative or competitive activity, including the ability to compete with or against your friends in The Crucible, Destiny’s competitive multiplayer mode featuring numerous playlists and maps spanning diverse environments across the galaxy.
Destiny is rated PEGI 16 and is available now for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system (PlayStation Plus required for some features), PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Gold required for some features).
For more information, visit www.DestinyTheGame.com. For exclusive updates, follow the official Destiny social channels at www.facebook.com/DestinyTheGame and @DestinyTheGame on Twitter and interact directly with the developers at www.Bungie.net.