Activision Blizzard has just announced the financial results for the first quarter during which the company has functioned as a unified entity, following the much publicized merger. Revenues amounted to 711 million dollars during the period and, to some people’s surprise, there was no profit. Actually, Activision Blizzard was forced to post a loss that amounted to 194 million $.

The reasons were multiple. On the one hand, the company has to pay more than 78 million $ related to the merger process and 26 million $ in compensation packages to those Vivendi employees who are not part of the new entity. On the other hand, the economic downturn has seen customers buying less games than estimated.

Still, the company expects to break even by the end of the year and highlighted how its games dominate markets and charts. The best performers were, as usual for Activision, the Guitar Hero franchise and Call of Duty 4, which were joined by World of Warcraft from Blizzard and the LucasArts developed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

In North America, the best selling game for the Nintendo DS was Guitar Hero: On Tour, while for the first nine months of 2008, Guitar Hero represented the best selling franchise on all hardware platforms, according to the NPD Group.

World of Warcraft continues to be the best sold MMO in the world and the game with the most subscribers. It has just surpassed the 11 million mark and there’s set to be rapid growth once Wrath of the Lich King, the next expansion, is launched in the following weeks.

There are also big expectations related to the next game bearing the Call of Duty label, World at War, which is seen as a best seller during the crucial Christmas shopping season.

Activision Blizzard has also announced that it plans to buyback company shares that are worth more than 1 billion dollars, as a sign of confidence in its future.