Destiny 2 was expected to be a big game by all accounts- and in spite of underperformance relative to the first game in the UK and in Japan, presumably it will still end up being one of the more successful games of the year.
That said, it is a bit telling that in a press release regarding the game’s success, Activision has refrained from giving us any hard numbers whatsoever. In fact, they beat around the bush with a lot of other metrics- player engagement, week one concurrent player count, and PSN sales (for some reason).
“With franchise pre-order records broken, and record day-one performance on PlayStation Store, it’s exciting to see engagement at the highest ever week-one concurrency for the franchise,”Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision, said. “Destiny 2 is off to a strong start as the #1 console gaming launch week of the year to date. With the PC version yet to ship, Destiny 2 sets the stage for being one of the biggest video game entertainment events of the year.”
To be fair, Destiny 2‘s performance was probably impacted to some degree by the widespread disappointment that many felt with the original game after its launch, three years ago. That said, Destiny 2 is a far better game by far, and presumably, it will generate more positive word of mouth that will help ensure it has a long tail, and sustained sales for some time to come.