The Destiny beta proved many things during its incredible run a few weeks back. Namely, it showed why Destiny should be at the top of every gamer’s wish list this fall, regardless of the console they own. In large part because of its excellence, the Destiny beta also managed to set a new record for any new console franchise, with more than 4.6 million people participating.
The Destiny beta included a sampling of major activities featured in the full game, which will release on Sept. 9 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360. PS4 and PS3 owners got into the beta first, on July 17, with owners of an Xbox platform getting in on July 23. By the beta’s end on July 28, Bungie’s servers had seen 4,638,937 unique players.
Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg was understandably excited. “This is the biggest beta of this console generation by a wide margin and the largest console beta ever for a new video game IP to date,” he said.
Although specific figures for other PS4 and Xbox One betas haven’t been released, we’ve no doubt that his claim is accurate. Whereas other betas have generally occurred on one or two platforms, the Destiny beta occurred on four consoles and was eventually opened to all players, not just invitees.
Bungie COO Pete Parsons was equally effusive, if not a bit more deferential.
“We surpassed even our own goals and the feedback was invaluable,” Parsons said. “We cannot thank the community enough, the response was humbling and in the weeks ahead we’ll be working hard to ensure that Destiny lives up to the expectations at launch.”
In Destiny, players take on the role of Guardians of the last city on Earth who must battle fierce enemies to reclaim all that was lost during the collapse of humanity’s Golden Age. The narrative unfolds in an interesting and seamless mix of epic adventures that may take cooperative, competitive, public and social forms.
Although the beta took place on Earth (and briefly on the Moon), the final game will include landscapes such as the red dunes of Mars and the lush jungles of Venus.