Activision Blizzard released its earnings report for the third quarter and it broke all of its own previous sales records, reporting non-GAAP net revenues of $1.7 billion USD, thanks in-part to the stellar response with Destiny.

The earnings were pushed largely by Destiny, which helped to push the record quarter by generating $500 million in revenue for Activision and was the largest new video game franchise launch in history. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said on a conference call with investors today that Destiny is well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar franchise.

As a result of the better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, Activision has adjusted its full-year earnings outlook from a previous $4.7 billion to a projected $4.8 billion in non-GAAP earnings. Activision's earnings for the same period last year were $657 million USD.

"Our record third-quarter results were driven by Destiny, the biggest new videogame franchise launch of all time, as well as strong sales from Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, which now has over 20 million registered players1, and World of Warcraft, which saw a quarterly increase in subscribers to 7.41 million in anticipation of the upcoming Warlords of Draenor release," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "We are raising our full-year non-GAAP outlook and we expect to deliver double-digit non-GAAP revenue growth year-over-year and record non-GAAP earnings per share."

As for Destiny, according to statistics calculated by developer Bungie, players average three hours a day playing the sci-fi shooter on weekdays, adding an hour on the weekends. Since its release, 9.5 million registered users and current players have logged on to Destiny's servers.

Currently, the team is working on future expansion content and the eventual sequel.

"Work has also begun on future expansion packs as well as on our next full game release," said Eric Hirshberg, Activision's Publishing CEO. "We're very pleased with the launch and continuing engagement."