Slightly worse than those posted last year

Jul 28, 2008 07:11 GMT  ·  By

Vivendi Games, which is now officially a part of Activision Blizzard, has reported its financial results for the first quarter of the current financial year, the last time it does so as an independent game developer and publisher. The quarter saw a slight dip in sales and in revenue, as the company did not have any big launch during the period.

Sales were just under 700 million dollars, while for the same period last year they stood at close to 800 million dollars. Sales from Sierra Online, Sierra Entertainment and Vivendi Games Mobile were, as the company puts it, "slightly higher" than in the same period of 2007, but Blizzard brought in significantly lower revenue. The reason is that spring last year saw the release of the first expansion to the number one MMO World of Warcraft, called Burning Crusade. The release enjoyed big sales and made Blizzard a lot of money, also managing to bring more than 2 million players into the world of Azeroth.

The next expansion to World of Warcraft, called Wrath of the Lich King, is in development. Blizzard has not yet set a clear release date, but it seems that the new MMO expansion will come sometime this fall, in time for the videogame shopping frenzy that hits just before Christmas. The expansion is widely expected to sell very well and to provide a boost to the newly formed Activision Blizzard. One of the most important additions made in Wrath of the Lich King is the addition of a new playable class, dubbed the Death Knight, which relies on offensive strength and on runes rather than on mana.

Following the mediocre results that the Sierra brand posted while in the portfolio of Vivendi Games, the merger might see all Sierra assets incorporated into the Activision side of the new company. This might just have been the final time that we see Sierra listed as a separate entity, with rumors swirling that the label will not be releasing anymore games in 2009.