Activision is said to have poured half a billion dollars into the development and promotion of Destiny, Halo's spiritual successor, and now, following up on its conviction, the video game publisher has shipped $500 million worth in copies of the title to retailers.

While its $500 million shipment of Destiny copies to retailers doesn't provide actual figures on the game's initial sales, it says a lot about Activision's belief in the game.

Activision claims approximately 4.6 million gamers logged in to play the Destiny beta and the testing period of the game enjoyed a peak of 850,000 users simultaneously exploring Bungie's latest universe. The game is a post-apocalyptic first-person shooter where players are surrounded with other live players who are playing the same section of the game as them. It shipped at midnight on Sept. 9.

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, says his company has been confident in Destiny from the beginning, a certainty that was affirmed by Bungie and Activision's own addictions to the sci-fi shooter.

"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 Hirshberg. "Destiny is officially the biggest new franchise launch in our industry's history. It's also the highest-selling day one digital console release in history. 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."

Hard numbers on the amount of units moved out of retail stores and into homes remain undisclosed. Activision, howeer, is acclaiming Destiny as the most successful new franchise of all time.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, says the success of Destiny and Hearthstone, a card-collecting game, confirms his company's ability to craft new intellectual properties.

"Based on extraordinary audience demand, retail and first-party orders worldwide have exceeded $500 million for Destiny," said Kotick. "This industry milestone marks another blockbuster success for our company and demonstrates our unique ability to create some of the most successful entertainment franchises in the world."

For Bungie, Destiny is the game the studio has always wanted to make, according to Harold Ryan, Bungie president.

"We've dreamt of this universe for years, so we couldn't be more thrilled to swing open the doors and let fans shape this experience as they tell their unique stories in the game," said Ryan. "For us, the next generation of games is all about allowing players to collide and interact with each other as they take on epic, action-packed adventures all their own."