During Activision’s earnings call yesterday, the company revealed that there are 16 million registered accounts across all platforms on Bungie’s Destiny, and those who are still around have an average play time of three hours a day.
We don’t know how many active players there are, but those numbers are fairly significant regardless, and despite a somewhat unsteady launch from a critical perspective, it seems Destiny has performed well enough for its creators and backers to be pleased.
Destiny power leveling model relies on keeping players engaged for the long haul, as the series has a ten-year blueprint spanning multiple games and assuredly countless DLC “expansions.” The model is entirely reliant on traditional game and DLC sales, as despite having some MMO elements, they did not pull the trigger and force a subscription fee. And even though they have so many in-game currencies it can make your head spin, they have no microtransactions where players can buy items for real world cash. Players can’t even trade items between themselves, making a gear black market physically impossible.