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Activision is investing up to $500 million (£295m) into the development and marketing of Bungie’s upcoming multiplayer FPS Destiny.
The publisher’s CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the figure during the Milken conference in LA, as reported by Reuters.
A company spokesperson explained the $500m covered development, marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties and additional costs.
"Bungie’s very ambitious plan is designed to unfold over a ten-year period, "said the spokesperson.
"The depth of creative content, scope and scale is unprecedented and is required to bring Bungie’s vision to life."
The spokesperson added Activision expects product costs will be “roughly in line” with other triple-A titles over the long-term.
Activision currently has a ten-year publishing deal with Bungie for Destiny, and Kotick said the stakes for investing in big game IP were “getting bigger”.
"If you’re making a $500 million bet you can’t take that chance with someone else’s IP," he said.
"The stakes for us are getting bigger."
If the $500m figure is true, it would make Destiny the most expensive game in history.
Rockstar’s GTA V, the latest sequel in the long-running IP, is rumoured to have cost $265m to develop and market. In three days after release however, the game brought in over $1billion and has gone on to sell more than 32 million copies to date.
Despite Destiny being a new IP however, Kotick has previously expressed his confidence in the game and developer Bungie, and has said he expects it to be “the best-selling new game IP in history” and Activision’s next billion dollar franchise.
