Activision’s ‘Taken King’ Sets Otherworldly Records

By Chris Lange Published Sep 17, 2:10PM EDT

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Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) continued on its tear of record-breaking games when it released its newest installment in the Destiny series. This story may sound familiar, but that is because the original Destiny had the biggest launch of a new video game franchise in history, based on physical unit sell-through data.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) is enjoying a nice chunk of the sales as well from its online PlayStation store; although Sony made the record-breaking announcement, it did not reveal the actual numbers.

“Destiny: The Taken King” broke the record for the most downloaded day-one game in PlayStation history and set a new day-one franchise benchmark for both total players and peak online concurrency, surpassing the original Destiny launch day last September.

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, commented on the record:

Destiny: The Taken King is officially the most downloaded game on day-one in PlayStation history and set a new benchmark for both total Destiny players and peak online concurrency on day-one, so it’s safe to say the Destiny franchise continues to gain momentum. Along with our talented partners at Bungie, we cannot wait to watch the community continue to grow and tackle the King’s Fall Raid kicking off on Friday.

Apart from this, PlayStation gamers receive additional content for The Taken King.

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A few analysts recently weighed in on Activision ahead of this release:

Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $35 from $30.
Piper Jaffray reiterated a Buy rating with a $33 price target.
Argus reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $34 from $30.

Shares of Activision were up 1.9% to $31.08 on Thursday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $31.98 and a 52-week trading range of $17.73 to $31.16.

Sony shares were up 1.3%, at $26.49 in the 52-week range of $16.57 to $32.95. The consensus price target is $37.02.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.