Bungie's first post-Halo game Destiny has the potential to become Activision's third billion dollar franchise.

That's according to Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg, who says the persistent online shooter looks set to join Call of Duty and Skylanders as a billion dollar IP for the publisher.

"We strongly believe we are on pace to set the all-time pre-order record for a new IP," said an upbeat Hirshberg during an Activision Blizzard earnings call today.

"Based on what we've seen we believe that Destiny has the potential to become the third active billion dollar franchise in the Activision Publishing portfolio," he added.

Destiny is developer Bungie's first game since it parted ways with Microsoft and the Halo franchise it created, and partnered with Activision. Hirshberg, has said previously that the new shooter is "probably one of the biggest investments in a new IP that's ever been made in this industry".

The Destiny release date has been pencilled in for 'early 2014' on PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.