By Ronald Grover and Malathi Nayak
LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO, May 5 (Reuters) - Activision Blizzard Inc intends to spend $500 million developing and promoting "Destiny," potentially breaking industry records as it seeks to build the sci-fi role-playing videogame into its next multibillion-dollar franchise.
CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the number, which dwarfs Hollywood spending on some of its biggest firms, during the Milken conference in Los Angeles last week. A company spokesperson said on Monday the number was accurate but also included marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties and other costs.
Activision, eyeing the flagging growth of its long-running "Call of Duty" action-shooter franchise, is eager to lay the foundation for its next multi-game blockbuster series.
Investors hope that "Destiny," scheduled for release on Sept. 9 from Bungie, the same studio that created Microsoft's best-selling "Halo" franchise, could re-invigorate Activision's revenue, which slid 6 percent in 2013.
The company signed a 10-year contract with Bungie in 2010 that gives it worldwide distribution rights and significant control over the potential franchise's development.
"If you're making a $500 million bet you can't take that chance with someone else's IP," Activision CEO told the Milken conference. "The stakes for us are getting bigger."
"Destiny" is a cross between a traditional shooting game format and a role-playing game in which gamers play characters in a real-time online world. The title allows gamers to play "Guardians" who protect the last city standing on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Analysts said $500 million would likely be a record spent on a single game - especially one without an established track record. To break even, Activision would have to sell about 15 million to 16 million units of a $60 game, analysts said.
"It's a head scratcher, said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. "For brand new IP, it's tough but it could post a big surprise."
Bhatia expects the game will sell 8 million units. "Grand Theft Auto V," which hit stores last September, was a runaway success with over 32.5 million units as of February this year. But it was the fifth installment of a critically acclaimed series that had become an indelible component of popular youth culture.
RECORD BY ANY NAME
Some analysts estimate that Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of "Grand Theft Auto," spent over $260 million to develop, produce and market the fifth installment, though it's unclear whether that's comparable with Activision's own $500 million figure.