'Destiny' Sales Drop 78% In UK, Remains No. 1 In Sales

"Destiny's" sales dropped by 78 percent during the second week of its release in the UK, but the title still remains at the number one spot.

Bungie, Inc.’s shooter launched on Sept. 9 across four platforms, but the PlayStation 4 version of the game continues to outsell the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, making up for 44 percent of sales, with the Xbox One version comprising 31 percent.

“Destiny” has proven to be a system seller, and PlayStation 4 sales jumped 300 percent during the first week of the game’s release, with 72 percent of those hardware sales being the “Destiny” PS4 bundle.

Though the first-person shooter is selling extraordinarily well, critics gave “Destiny” mediocre reviews. Before the game hit shelves earlier this month, developer Bungie prohibited journalists from publishing reviews of the online game. The studio felt that “Destiny” should be graded only when players were able to fully experience its social capabilities with “thousands of gamers to ensure each potential public space would be populated.”

“Destiny’s” alpha ran from June 12-16, and Bungie reported that more than 6 million games were played during the test. The beta ran in late July and ended on July 27, with more than 4.6 million players involved. While the beta was first accessible to only those who pre-ordered the game, Bungie opened the test to all players on July 24, allowing anyone with a working console to take part in the test run.

On Sept. 10, Activision announced that “Destiny” was the most lucrative gaming franchise launch of all time, with the title shipping more than $500 million to retail stores and first-parties internationally. As of Sept. 17, more than 11 million gameplay sessions have been played in North America.

“Destiny” reached Japan on Sept. 11 for the PS3 and PS4, selling more than 90 thousand retail copies on PS4 and 49.5 thousand copies on the PS3 within one week.

“Destiny” will receive its first expansion pack, “The Dark Below,” in December.