Destiny’s “Buy One, Get One Free” Deal
Slowly, but surely, video game releases are announced in a more widespread fashion, using YouTube and TV to catch viewers’ attention.
Destiny is a prime-time example of this phenomenon, teasing its viewers with scenes from the video game, which was released on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. But what the advertisements don’t show, however, the promotional offering that the video game’s originators, Activision and Bungie, are giving away for a limited time. The promo concerns the sales of last-generation Destiny games, which comes included with the first-generation, or latest, release of the Destiny game series.
Slowly, but surely, video game releases are announced in a more widespread fashion, using YouTube and TV to catch viewers’ attention.
Destiny is a prime-time example of this phenomenon, teasing its viewers with scenes from the video game, which was released on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. But what the advertisements don’t show, however, the promotional offering that the video game’s originators, Activision and Bungie, are giving away for a limited time. The promo concerns the sales of last-generation Destiny games, which comes included with the first-generation, or latest, release of the Destiny game series.
The “buy one, get one free” deal is listed as “subject to availability,” which means that the offer will eventually be sold out. However, in more specific terms, the deadline to take advantage of this promotional offer is by January 15, 2015.
What exactly is the promo about?
The promotional offer gives gamers the chance to compare and contrast the Destiny game on older and newer consoles. In this case, PlayStation 3 users can download the next-generation game in the same console family, which is PlayStation 4. The same principle applies for Xbox game consoles, where Xbox 360 game purchasers can have a free version of the same Destiny game on Xbox One.
The main concern, according to the official game website’s FAQ, is the ability to transfer previous video game accomplishments onto the newer versions of the game. As long as the stats are within the same console family, the answer is yes, it is possible to do.
Even though the advertisements don’t mention the “buy one, get one free” deal, they captured a lot of attention with its depiction of the video game. For example, one advertisement is a classic trailer, but instead of a movie preview, it’s a video game preview.
The advertisements try to appeal to different types of geeks. For example, in the video titled “Official Destiny Live Action Trailer – Become Legend,” the dialogue between the characters resembles something that can be found on “Battlestar Galactica,” but the explorations of the Moon, Venus and Mars appeal to geeks who like to read about astronomy. This video, however, does not use video game characters, but appeals to cosplay fans with real human beings doing the stunts and dialogue.
But the gameplay is not easily forgotten in the midst of the fantastic planetary vistas. One promotional video focused on Destiny’s gameplay, where the characters look smaller and more like video game figures on the screen. The invitation to learn something important from the video game appears in the following quote: “it doesn’t matter who you are – only what you will become.”
Initial effects of the promos and video game release
The video that was made for the E3 event (Electronic Entertainment Expo) garnered over 1 million views, but that is a small number compared to the two more recent videos, which each received more than 6 million views. Considering that the E3 video was published in June 2014, the popularity and excitement for the 2014 September release grew exponentially as the game approached the release date. But the excitement for the 2013 release of the game, which has the same name, had a similar, though slightly higher impact with more than 7 million views.
And the pre-orders are substantial, with The Washington Post writer Abby Ohlheiser reporting that it’s the game that currently holds the record for pre-ordered video games. According to The Telegraph, the video game also seems to have been costly to make, with the number at 500 million dollars. Compared to other AAA games, Destiny’s budget costs still surpassed the typical numbers.
Because of technical issues, one person from Bungie discouraged readers to believe the full accuracy of day one reviews of the video game, according to GameSpot. But Destiny has a reputation to live up to, especially with Halo and Call of Duty as notable predecessors.