DESTINY.BUNGIE.ORG

Test Ride Your Guardian This July

Earlier today Gameinfomer reported that Activision's quarter earnings call mentioned that access to the Destiny beta would begin in July. Bungie later confirmed the news and promised that an exact date would be announced at E3.

The Destiny Beta will begin sometime in July. You'll find out exactly when you can play during E3. pic.twitter.com/xxW0ufmqig

— Bungie (@Bungie) May 7, 2014

My excitement is building! (Thanks to ncsuDuncan for the Activision slides and DaDerga for pointing out the GI article).

Activision's $500 Million Investment

Half a billion dollars. That's how much Reuters says Activision is putting into developing and promoting Destiny:

CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the number, which dwarfs Hollywood spending on some of its biggest firms, during the Milken conference in Los Angeles last week. A company spokesperson said on Monday the number was accurate but also included marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties and other costs.

While that sounds like a huge sum of cash for a new IP, keep in mind that Destiny is planned to be a 10-year franchise:

The spokesperson added that investment in the next generation engine and a "robust backend infrastructure are upfront expenditures that should reduce future product development costs."

"Over the long term, we expect the ultimate product costs to be roughly in line with other Triple-A titles."

This just leaves one question: What's the exchange rate of dollars to glimmer? (Thanks for the heads-up, Mr Danger.)

Guardian Radio Episode 60

The latest episode of Guardian radio has been deployed. In this episode Byf presents his theories on the origin of The Fallen, which leads to some pretty interesting discussion. Go listen! Thanks, petetheduck.

Monday's headlines: