Destiny cost "not anywhere near" $500 million to build, and public PlayStation beta starts July 17

In a weekly blogged update, Destiny clarified and expounded upon a few talking points.

There's a rumor going around that Destiny cost $500 million to build, including marketing, thus making it the most expensive game ever made. Bungie Chief Operating Officer, Pete Parsons, can't speak for how much Activision is spending on marketing, but Parsons says that Destiny cost "not anything close" to $500 million. Until legitimate numbers surface, Grand Theft Auto V is the current crown holder at $265 million, including marketing.

Also, the Peter "Tyrion Lannister" Dinklage voiceover work—which is infamously poor—is being updated. No word on whether Dinklage will rerecord his meme-worthy "That wizard came from the moon" performance, or if another less-disgusted-sounding voice actor will handle the update. To Dinklage's credit, however, his embarrassing voiceover really just brought to light how trite Destiny's writing is.

Not sure how much of that "not anything close to $500 million" went to dialog writers, but maybe a little more should've gone to them.

Public beta begins on July 17 for PlayStation players. Xbox platforms will open up "very shortly thereafter." The only way to guarantee a spot in the public beta is to pre-order Destiny.

Also, Bungie's pursuit of creating a world that is "bright, hopeful, and adventurous"—rather than dark, dismal, and quote-unquote mature—earned Destiny a T for Teen rating from the ESRB. Meaning, you'll get all the maturity you can handle from middle schoolers on up while playing online.