Today is a big day for fans of Bungie's popular RPG/shooter hybrid Destiny. Update 2.0 for the game is currently available, and fan excitement over the patch, which paves the way for The Taken King expansion, has resulted in Bungie's website crashing from the overwhelming traffic.

While Destiny fans are extremely excited about what the future holds for the game, it's also been a bit plagued by issues from its past lately thanks to a lawsuit by a disgruntled former Bungie employee. While this lawsuit has been a headache for Bungie and Activision, it has shed some additional light on Destiny as a whole, with the latest piece of information revealed in court documents detailing the game's astonishing early sales numbers.

Thanks to these court documents from the Marty O'Donnell lawsuit, we now know that Destiny accrued over $500 million in pre-order and day one sales. Furthermore, the game sold 6.3 million units in its first month on sale, which amounted to additional $47.5 million in revenue.

These would be extremely strong sales for any game, but what makes these sales especially impressive is that Destiny is a brand new IP. Typically in the gaming industry, new IPs tend to struggle a bit in their freshman outing as consumers are more comfortable paying for new entries in established franchises, but Destiny's sales are an indication that as long as the game is compelling enough, gamers are more than willing to shell out the cash for a brand new experience.

These specific sales numbers also validate claims Activision has made about Destiny in the past, including the fact that it is the most pre-ordered new IP ever. While there exists a vocal minority that like to deride Destiny at every turn, its success isn't by accident, and it's not like the game has been burning out since its launch last year. On the contrary, since launch, Destiny has amassed 20 million players, and continues to top sales charts across all the platforms its available on each month.

Activision and Bungie have more viable opportunities to increase Destiny's players and sales numbers in the future as well, if certain rumors pan out. While there has yet to be any official talk of a PC version of Destiny, there is some recent evidence that suggests that Bungie is indeed considering a PC version of the game. Furthermore, it may also be a viable option to bring Destiny to the Nintendo NX once that console releases.

These extraordinarily strong sales numbers are really just the beginning for Destiny, in many ways. The game is planned to be a 10 year experience, and as the install base grows for the new-gen consoles, it's likely that it will continue to be a strong seller. The constant support from Bungie in terms of patches, updates, and expansions has helped keep the community engaged, and with The Taken King releasing next week, Destiny is showing no signs of slowing down.

Destiny is now available or PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: IGN