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Activision and Sony Gear Up for Highly Anticipated Destiny Release

Chris Lange

Published: September 20, 2016 10:05 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:22 am

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is set to deliver the highly anticipated expansion in its Destiny franchise, “Destiny: Rise of Iron.” At the same time, the company is offering a rerelease of all of its previous Destiny titles combined into “Destiny – The Collection.” This is looking to be easily one of the most anticipated video game releases in recent history.

It is worth noting that Destiny sold more copies at its launch in 2014 than any game in Activision’s history, and that its expansion released a year ago generated record digital sales via the Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 4.

However, management believes that the newest Destiny expansion could be the biggest one yet. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision, commented:

Rise of Iron’s record shattering pre-orders make it by far our most anticipated expansion for Destiny ever–and for good reason. It’s packed with incredible new adventures that Destiny players are going to love. Along with our partners at Bungie, we can’t wait for our fans to explore ‘The Plaguelands,’ conquer an entirely new Raid, ‘Wrath of the Machine,’ and tackle all new modes, a new Strike, quests, weapons, and gear. I, for one, can’t stop playing. And you won’t be able to either.

Apart from this, “Destiny – The Collection” is one of the largest content offerings in gaming this year, comprising all the magic of Destiny since its beginning in 2014. It is the perfect opportunity for new and returning Guardians to join the fight for humanity’s survival, and it includes a character boost allowing players to instantly level up and join their friends. Additionally, legacy-gen console players can utilize the Destiny upgrade program to transition to current-gen until January 31, 2017.

So far in 2016, each of these companies has outperformed the broad markets, with Activision up 15% and Sony up 30%.

Shares of Activision Blizzard were last seen up 0.5% at $44.32 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $46.50 and a 52-week trading range of $26.49 to $44.84.

Sony shares were up 2% at $32.60, in a 52-week trading range of $19.90 to $33.86. The consensus price target is $42.85.