Destiny Could Reach Call of Duty-Level Sales Of 20M Units, Analyst Says

Destiny, Bungie's much-anticipated "shared-world" shooter, was released yesterday and is selling well, according to one analyst. Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia said in a note to investors today that after speaking with GameStop executives and checking in with stores, the firm now has "increased confidence" that Destiny can reach 15 million units sold this year.

On a longer timeline, Bhatia said Destiny could reach "Call of Duty levels" and sell around 20 million units during its lifetime. This comment specifically was based on "optimistic feedback" gathered during Bhatia's recent conversations, presumably with retailers.

Strong sales for Destiny wouldn't be too surprising. After all, publisher Activision launched a mighty marketing blitz for the game, all in the name of helping establish Destiny as Activision Publishing's third billion-dollar series, joining Call of Duty and Skylanders.

Will strong sales of Destiny eat away at the market for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare? Not so, according to Activision, which believes the games can peacefully coexist.

Destiny is available today for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. Earlier today, Activision announced that the game generated $500 million launch day, though an official unit sales number was not announced. Destiny's launch has not been entirely smooth, as college students across the country are reporting that they can't play the game due to network issues.

For more on Destiny, check out GameSpot's review-in-progress in video form (above) or written.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch