14 DAY TRIAL // Activision Blizzard has announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter that ended on March 31. The company earned around 981 million dollars, with profit being an impressive 189 million. The news comes just as two other publishers, Electronic Arts and THQ, announced losses for the same time frame, which makes Activision Blizzard's performance even more impressive.
The biggest selling games during this period were Call of Duty: World at War, which is still being seen in videogame charts, and World of Warcraft, the Blizzard created MMO that has seen a boost following the release of the second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. A special mention goes to Guitar Hero: World Tour, which is still the number one best selling third-party game in the United States, irrespective of the platform we look at. The data comes from the NPD Group.
The future of Activision Blizzard is also closely tied to the three franchises mentioned above, with Robert Kotick, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, saying that “During the remainder of the year, we plan to release our strongest video game slate, based on some of the industry's most profitable franchises.” Basically, at the moment, Activision Blizzard is turning into the Electronic Arts of a few years ago, banking on its most known series at the expanse of creating new intellectual properties. Bobby Kotick has stated that the company has raised its guidance by 100 million dollars.
The release schedule for the coming three months is packed with videogames based on movies, like the already out X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The publisher is also set to launch Prototype, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS.