Two of Activision's biggest releases this year, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Destiny, conceivably appeal to the same group of gamers as they are both first-person shooters. But th at doesn't mean Destiny, the brand-new franchise from Halo creator Bungie, will eat into sales of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Both games can peacefully and successfully coexist, according to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg.
"We think that there's room for more than one blockbuster hit and we're just intent on having two of them," Hirshberg said during Activision's latest earnings call. His comments came in response to an analyst who asked if the industry can support multiple major product releases that keep players engaged for extended periods of time. Hirshberg brushed aside the notion that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Destiny can't both succeed. They can, and history proves that, he said.
"On how many games the industry can support, and particularly the first-person action genre, I think, we've seen in the past that the first-person action genre in particular is broadly appealing enough to accommodate more than one blockbuster hit," he said. "There have been other good performing players in that genre and that hasn't ever kept Call of Duty from delivering incredible results."
Another reason why Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Destiny can coexist is because, though they are technically in the same category as FPS games, they are also quite different.
"We do think that the games are very different from one another," Hirshberg said. "Call of Duty, as you know, is a gritty, authentic military shooter, and Destiny is a far future sci-fi action-adventure game with lot of RPG characteristics. So in fact, when you look at the people who participated in the Destiny beta, we actually think Destiny has the capability to appeal not only to the first-person action fan, but also to bring new fans into our portfolio since the game also appeals to fans of RPG and action-adventure games. So net-net, the answer is that we believe industry can and will support both, and I think, history has shown that whenever publishers have sh own up with breakthrough great content with great experiences for fans, that those have tended to find a market."
Destiny launches September 9, while Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will be released on November 4.
| Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch |
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