Activision Blizzard reported its financial results for the quarter-year ending on June 30, noting that it has exceeded its earnings expectations, and that online revenues surpassed retail earnings for the first quarter ever. The company also revealed that True Crime: Hong Kong will not see release until 2011.
Over the quarter that began April 1 and concluded June 30, Activision Blizzard's earnings exceeded its initial outlook due to the strong continued performances of World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. While both performed well at retail, with three games from the two franchises ranking amongst the NPD's top 10 PC sales for the quarter, Activision's earnings were largely driven by online sales, as digitial sales grew 20% over the same quarter last year, exceeding the sales figures from retail for the quarter. The company put the performance of one title's digital contents (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) in perspective, noting that sales from the two map packs would have ranked it amongst the top 5 selling titles of the quarter if it was a standalone game, and that it led to Modern Warfare 2 being the highest-earning game in the entire industry for the quarter.
While the company affirmed its positive outlook for the rest of the year, stating it's "never been better positioned for the holiday season," one game that won't join the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, DJ Hero 2, Tony Hawk: Shred, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, and GoldenEye 007 will be True Crime: Hong Kong. The action title, which was revealed late last year and originally promised for a 2010 launch, has been pushed into 2011 to allow the developers more time to refine the game.
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Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Thursday, August 5, 2010