Activision: Destiny beta the ‘largest ever’ for a new IP with over 4.6 million players

Destiny's beta was a roaring success, Activision announced today, revealing some pretty staggering numbers. First beginning on PS4 and PS3 on July 17 and later expanding to Xbox platforms, the beta saw over 4.6 million unique players participate before ending on Sunday, July 27.

"This is the biggest beta of this console generation by a wide margin and the largest console beta ever for a new video game IP to date," said Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said. "Hosting a beta at this scale is an incredible feat, so we're thrilled to see the phenomenal response. But the beta is just a taste of what's to come. We're counting down the days to our launch day, September 9th."

"We were totally blown away by the number of people who played the beta," added Bungie COO Pete Parsons. "We surpassed even our own goals and the feedback was invaluable. We cannot thank the community enough, the response was humbling and in the weeks ahead we'll be working hard to ensure that Destiny lives up to the expectations at launch."

While Destiny's beta allowed Bungie the chance to test their systems prior to the game's launch, it also gave fans the opportunity to explore the beginning areas of the expansive universe. Well, it may not be as expansive as we originally thought. As expected, some fans have complained about the size of the game, though Bungie has responded, calling it "the biggest" game they've ever made, while reiterating plans to support it post launch. Size aside, there are some other concerns we have here at GameZone, like the blandness of Peter Dinklage's voiceover for Ghost and the lack of in-game communication.

Still, you don't judge a book by its cover and we won't judge Destiny by its limited beta. Check back for our full review once the game releases in September.