Bellevue studio launches most expensive, hyped video game in history
Sep 8, 2014, 2:17 PM | Updated: Sep 9, 2014, 8:21 am
If you watched the Seahawks or any other NFL game the past week, you couldn’t help but see commercials for what’s being billed as the most expensive and highly-anticipated video game in history. And Bellevue’s Bungie Studios is set to reap the rewards as the game goes on sale this week.
“Destiny” is the first release for Bungie since the company’s wildly successful Halo franchise, which has sold an estimated 50 million copies since it debuted its first installment back in 1999.
Expectations are even higher for the new game. Bungie and publisher Activision reportedly spent upwards of $500 million on the development and marketing, including the NFL commercial blitz.
The release is being compared to massive movie franchises like the “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars.” It even features a soundtrack and theme song co-composed by Beatle’s great Paul McCartney.
“The scope of the game is incredible,” says Tim Ellis, a Seattle-based video game correspondent for Geekwire. “They’re coming out with it on Xbox 360, PS3 PS4 Xbox One, all four of those systems. So it’s a huge deal.”
The post-apocalyptic game is set 700 years in the future. Gamers travel the universe seeking out and destroying aliens before the human race is exterminated.
It sounds like many other video games, but Ellis says Bungie has created a unique world and experience unlike other games, combining the best of popular shooter and massive multi-player games that can only be played online.
“They’ve built this massive world, they’ve got a lot of new ideas they’re bringing to the table,” Ellis says.
Bungie executives say there could be upwards of 20 million players taking part in the next year. The company expects it could have 10 million on Tuesday’s launch day. At $60 a piece and up, it shouldn’t take long to recoup its investment in the franchise that is expected to last at least a decade.
“One of the executives at Game Stop, the retailer, came out and said this is the most pre-ordered new franchise title ever,” Ellis says.
The release is significant for more than just Bungie – which has grown from a handful of employees to 540. Ellis says it further solidifies Seattle as a center of the video game industry, akin to Hollywood and the film business. The area boasts dozens of video game developers both large and small, creating everything from blockbusters like “Destiny” to simple mobile apps.
