Activision: $500 million budget "shows the confidence we have in Destiny"

Roy Stackhouse, general manager for Activision UK & Ireland has called Destiny's $500 million budget a sign of the publisher's belief in the game and commitment for the future.

"I think it shows the confidence that we have in Destiny. It's what Activision does best; when we partner with a development studio that can deliver a game like Destiny, we can bring that to market. There's every indication that the launch will be something everyone will enjoy," he told CVG.

"To put that $500m in context - which I'm assuming you're attributing to Bobby Kotick at the Millican Convention - that's the whole entirety of the game. That's development, manufacturing, marketing and so forth. It sounds like a big amount but it doesn't just fuel one aspect."

The game is already showing the early signs of success with a beta that attracted 4,638,937 unique players and the honor of being the most pre-ordered new IP in history.

Stackhouse revealed the company began plans for PR and marketing around 18 months ahead of today's release and reiterated that Destiny was a franchise that the company was committed to on a long term basis.

"I think if you look at what we're trying to achieve with Destiny, we're basically putting out an IP that we believe is going to be around for an awful long time. We've focused on making it very immersive - both in the campaign and in the multiplayer - and we've already announced the first expansion pack that's on it's way this year. We view this as an IP we want in the market for a very long time."