Destiny

Cover art of the game's standard edition, featuring the three player classes (from right to left), Warlock, Hunter and Titan

### Publisher

Activision (2014-2019)
Bungie (since 2019)

### Programmer

Chris Butcher
Ben Wallace
Zach Russell

### Designer

Lars Bakken
Del Chafe III
Liz M.E. Chung
Tyson Green
Ken Malcolm
Sage Merrill
Christopher Opdahl
Alex Pfeiffer
Luke Smith
James Tsai

### Artist

Christopher Barrett
David Dunn

### Writer

Clay CarmoucheSeth Dickinson
Jonathan Goff
Robt McLees
Dave Mongan
Joshua Rubin
Lily Yu
Lucy Prebble
Felix Gilman

### Composer(s)

Paul McCartney
Michael Salvatori
C Paul Johnson
Martin O'Donnell

### Platforms

PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
Xbox 360
Xbox One

### Genre(s)

First-person shooter, action role-playing

### Mode(s)

multiplayer

***Destiny*** is a 2014 online-only multiplayer first-person shooter developed and published by Bungie for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One; between 2014 and 2019, *Destiny* was published by Activision. It is the first installment of the *Destiny* series.

Set in a "mythic science fiction" universe, *Destiny* takes place 700 years into the future where humanity is forced to survive within Earth's last settlement, called the Last City. Players take the roles of Guardians, protectors of the City who are tasked with the revival of a mysterious celestial body called the Traveler. The game is set in a "shared world" environment and combines first-person shooter mechanics with role-playing elements. *Destiny* features a large variety of activities ranging from player versus environment to player versus player game modes, including story missions, raids and deathmatch modes.

Development began in 2010 under the codename "Project Tiger", following Bungie's departure from Microsoft and the *Halo* franchise. The game was signed as part of a ten-year contract with *Call of Duty* publisher Activision, who allowed Bungie to retain the IP; Activision also provided support for the title through some of its owned studios. Production on the game was troubled and riddled with internal conflicts over the property's direction, narrative and design, leading to a significant reboot and overhaul of the project between mid-2013 until the game's release, as well as talent departures such as writer Joseph Staten and composer Martin O'Donnell. The game uses the Tiger engine, whose features were considered contradictory to the game's online design by Bungie developers. Leaks of the game first appeared in November 2012, before an official announcement at Sony's PlayStation 4 reveal event in February 2013.

*Destiny* was widely anticipated prior its release as Bungie's first intellectual property since *Halo* in 2001. Upon release, *Destiny* was met generally favorable if divisive reception. Reviewers lauded the visuals, art direction, map design, soundtrack, fundamental shooting mechanics, PvP modes, and controls. In contrast, *Destiny* was criticized for its messy and disjointed narrative, shallow story campaign, thin post-game content and progression pace, which several critics saw as requiring grinding. Reception and retrospective examinations of *Destiny* drew more positive views thanks to Bungie's extensive post-launch support and expansion packs, with some noting its influence on multiplayer-focused titles and business models. It received multiple year-end nominations and accolades, including 2014 BAFTA award for Best Game. A significant commercial success, *Destiny* holds the record for the biggest new franchise launch in video games.

Bungie supported *Destiny* with multiple content updates and four expansion packs after its release, including *The Dark Below*, *House of Wolves*, *The Taken King* and *Rise of Iron*, the latter releasing only on eighth-generation consoles. A sequel, *Destiny 2* was released in 2017.