Destiny Nearing 13 Million Players, 500+ People Working on the Game Right Now

Almost 13 million people--12,869,066 to be exact--have played Bungie's shooter Destiny, the developer has revealed. The milestone, which Bungie announced on its blog, comes after the release of Destiny's free demo for all platforms. It's unclear how many copies of Destiny have actually been sold.

Destiny's 12.87 million players have created 22.93 million Guardians, and together have spent 872.4 million hours in the game so far, Bungie went on to say. The developer also revealed some staffing numbers, saying it currently has more than 500 people working on the game and/or its sequel.

Bungie has also informed us that Destiny's new raid, Crota's End, has been beaten 769 times "and rapidly counting." The raid was introduced to Destiny through the game's first expansion, The Dark Below, which was released in early December. The raid was designed to be tackled by a team of six players, but someone recently beat it all by himself, a feat that has never been repeated, Bungie says.

Also in the update, Bungie said Destiny's ranks are about to grow significantly with players described as "Christmas Noobs" AKA people who receive the game as a gift on December 25.

"Go easy on 'em," Bungie said. "They'll show up in the Crucible--lost, confused, and freshly minted as Level Fives. They'll arrive on the forum where you're sort of a big deal, asking questions you discovered the answers to a long time ago. Take them under your wing. Show them the way. They’ll learn a lot from you."

Current Destiny owners are also getting a special Christmas gift from Bungie. The developer teased that Destiny players will find "some small stocking stuffers" in the game sometime after the holidays. Presumably you'll be able to claim your gift at the Postmaster.

Finally, Bungie said the next major update for Destiny will arrive in January, and should include "some stuff you've been asking for." Bungie will share more details after the holidays.