U.S. physical game sales of "Destiny 2" declined more than 50 percent in the month of September versus the 2014 release of "Destiny," according to NPD sell-through data sourced by three Wall Street analyst reports.
"The launch month of Destiny 2 was well short of the original iteration by a material amount," Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson wrote in a note to clients Friday, citing the NPD data.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter called the "Destiny 2" sales "underwhelming". Pachter now estimates total first month "Destiny 2" sales including full game digital downloads and physical retail sales will be "down roughly 40% from the first month sales of its predecessor."
Analysts said part of the reason for the sales decline may be because it launched on two less console platforms versus the first title. In addition, some gamers may be waiting for the PC version, which launches on Oct. 24. However, the installed bases of Sony Playstation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One consoles increased significantly since 2014, counteracting the game not being released on Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 this time.
The company's CEO Bobby Kotick said on a Feb. 2016 earnings call that "for games like Destiny, it had, in the high-20%s in terms of digital downloads" versus total sales. In Feb. 2017, Activision executive Dennis Durkin said Destiny digital sales mix rose to a "mid-30s" percentage of its total sales, according to a FactSet transcript.
Activision Blizzard sent the following statement in response:
"The original Destiny became the biggest new console video game franchise launch in history, and Destiny 2 surpassed the original's records for engagement and digital sales in launch week. The Destiny universe will welcome a new community of players for the first time on PC on October 24."
