News of Destiny's Future Be Coming Soon?
By Weston Albert 26 January 2016
Activision Blizzard will hold its next earnings call tomorrow, and with it could come a forecast of what the publisher and Bungie have in store for Destiny later this year.
Each quarter, Activision Blizzard holds an earnings call to discuss how the publisher performed financially in the previous quarter of the year, but the calls often include an outlook of what to expect from the company in the near future. To do that, the publisher often divulges a basic overview of the plans for its numerous games and franchises. That includes Destiny, one of Activision’s billion-dollar franchises.
Because Destiny is a major money-earner for Activision, the game will no doubt be a talking point on the earnings call, which will discuss Activision Blizzard’s financials from the fourth quarter of 2015.
When Destiny is discussed in these earnings calls, a highlight is usually data revealing the number of registered users and average playtime, but there are typically also reveals (at least from a high-altitude view of the franchise). In fact, it was during last year’s earnings call that Activision revealed Destiny‘s sequel was already in the works.
Could there be news of Destiny’s future during tomorrow’s call? Bungie has vaguely teased a large event or content drop later this year, so it’s very possible details of that could be discussed.
Yesterday, Bungie debuted the latest live event in Destiny, Crimson Days, which features a new Crucible mode, emotes, shaders, emblem, and Ghost Shells. But other than that event, Bungie’s shooter has been in a rut. And with Bungie not saying much more about the future, fans are growing restless.
Tomorrow’s earnings call also lands on the day that Bungie posts its weekly blog (previously called the Bungie Weekly Update) now called This Week at Bungie. If the timing was purposeful, Bungie could use the opportunity to break some news about future content coming to Destiny in Year Two, ahead of or shortly after Activision Blizzard’s late afternoon earnings call.
After Crimson Days concludes next week, the only thing Destiny fans have to look forward to at this point is the Iron Banner PvP event returning at the end of the month. This seems like the right time for Bungie to at least tease something new.
In addition to the possibility of hearing some hints about the future of Destiny‘s content from Activision Blizzard, since these calls are all about how the publisher can gain revenue from its games, the call could also include information about Destiny‘s micro-transaction and DLC structure and plans. Last quarter Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said that Destiny’s microtransactions and paid DLC could co-exist. Similar news could come out of tomorrow’s call as well, giving fans an idea of whether paid expansions or more live events are in store for Destiny.
It’s all conjecture at this point, but fans will no doubt be waiting anxiously for any news about future content coming to Destiny.
Do you think that tomorrow Bungie or Activision will reveal content coming to Destiny?
