The word is out. Destiny is mediocre, so-so, and not quite as good as expected according to reviews. Metacritic.com and Gamerankings.com scores are averaging in the high 70’s on a 100 point scale. That puts Destiny in a group with games such as the incomplete NHL 15, F.E.A.R 2 and Star Wars: Battlefront.
One of the most awaited games in history should survive just fine in the long run, but the low review scores may cost them. Bungie is set to lose out on $2.5 Million if the those scores remain the the 70 range. This would seem like a minor sum when Bungie ran to the bank when they made back their half a billion dollars production costs on the first day of sales. Anything after that would be happily added to the profits for sure.
The Traveller in Destiny is likely to resemble the new Bungie offices after they rake in all that money.
This is all based on a contract made partially public in 2010 that requires Bungie to score over a 90 on GameRankings.com in the first 30 days after the game’s release. All the hype that preceded Destiny made a 90+ score seem easy. The contract could have easily been changed in the past four years.
After noting some of the games above that shared Destiny’s position in the rankings, hinging $2.5 million on those highly susceptible ratings is risky at best. If this becomes a norm in the video game industry, companies might take a more interest in your opinions of their games.
Published: Sep 16, 2014 07:46 am