Activision, the publisher of "Destiny," announced Wednesday its sales of the game to retailers had hit US$500 million, which makes Destiny the biggest launch of a new game franchise in history.

The first-person shooter lets players become a "guardian," a character with supernatural powers in a "mythic science fiction" open world setting in a virtual world. The game was developed by Bungie, creators of "Halo," one of the most successful video game franchises to date.

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"Destiny" is a highly anticipated game, not only because it's the first game after the "Halo" franchise, but also because it's attempting to combine two popular gaming genres: the first-person shooter and a science-fiction universe where players coexist and interact with one another.

Even before its release, the game showed signs it would be successful. The game has always been present on the top weekly pre-order chart, if not the number one, said VGChartz, that has tracked Destiny as it became the most pre-ordered game to date.

"Since the beginning, we've been confident that our investment and belief in Destiny would pay off. But not many people believed we'd be able to say it did so on day one," said Eric Hirshberg, head of Activision's game publishing arm.

"We have more confidence than ever that Destiny will become one of the iconic franchises of this generation, and Activision's next billion dollar brand."

Sales of the game exceeded even his highest estimates for its first-day performance, said analyst Michael Pachter, who works at Wedbush Securities.

He said that if the game had reaped good reviews from critics, Destiny would go out and sell as many as 10 million units in the year.

"Destiny appears well-positioned to become Activision Publishing's third billion-dollar franchise," Pachter said.

TagsDestiny, destiny game, destiny game launch, Xbox One, Xbox 360, playstation 4, Playstation 3, sony, bungie, halo