Total net revenues were $1.17 billion (£728.5m), a drop of 19 per cent. Net income, or profit, fell by almost 24 per cent, to $384 million (£238.7m). Those declines, however, were not as severe as Activision had previously forecast, with revenue 21 per cent ahead of expectations. More >
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has been appointed to the board of directors at The Coca-Cola Company. Kotick, 59, was a member of the Yahoo board for five years until 2008. In addition to his seat on the Coca-Cola board, he has also been appointed to the company's management development committee. More >
1This year's Call Of Duty game will bring "meaningful innovation" to the series, according to publisher Activision. The claim comes from Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, who was speaking during an investor call following the release of the publisher's fiscal results. More >
California-based Activision Blizzard has posted better-than-expected results for its fourth fiscal quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011. More >
Vivendi has sold a stake in Activision Blizzard that reduces its holding in the game publisher to 60 per cent. More >
Activision has released a positive set of financial results for the three months to September 30, beating internal forecasts with sales and profits up thanks to a rise in digital revenue. More >
Getting upset about the right things in the right way is the key to moving videogames forward, says Leigh Alexander.
Activision plans to step up its efforts in the social and mobile gaming markets in a “thoughtful, methodical way”, chief financial officer Thomas Tippl said at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference in New York today. While the firm is no stranger to the digital marketplace – its online sales grew to a record $423 million in the second quarter of 2011, representing 37 per cent of the company's net revenues – its exploration of the social and mobile spaces has been cautious, with activity generally tied to extensions of its core franchises. Tippl said this will change, albeit not overnight, Gamasutra reports. "We're methodically investing in social and mobile gaming projects. While our goal is always to be number one in anything we do, even if we only get to half of our fair share in mobile and social over the next three years, it will still represent a significant upside, given that the mobile and social gaming markets have finally reached critical mass. And I expect it to grow at a double-digit clip for the foreseeable future. To date, we've mostly [explored social and mobile] around our existing franchises. In the future you will see more activity on our part to broaden our social and mobile parts of the portfolio. But it's going to be done in a thoughtful, methodical way, and in a way that will tend to create value for our shareholders, as opposed to venture capitalists and private equity firms [that are contributing to] what I would call a bubble valuation."
Strong digital performance drives 53 per cent rise in profits and $1.1 billion in sales.
2Norwegian retailer Coop Norway has temporarily removed 51 game and toy brands from its shelves following last months bombing and massacre committed by Anders Behring Breivik. The move comes in response to the mention of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and World Of Warcraft in Breivik's manifesto, who wrote: "I see MW2 more as a part of my training-simulation than anything else." Speaking to the Norwegian press, Coop Norway Retail director Geir Inge Stokke said: "The decision to remove the games was made around the time we realised the scope of the attack. Others are better suited than us, to point to the negative effects of games like these. At the moment it's [appropriate] for us to take them down. I wouldn't be surprised if others do the same. We have to think very carefully about when to bring these goods back. The economy involved is of no importance." Other titles removed from sale include Homefront, Sniper Ghost Warrior and Counter-Strike Source. It's important to note that non-game items such as toy guns have also been taken off shelves. We've contacted the publishers involved for comment.
In an extensive interview with Forbes, the Activision Blizzard CEO gives his perspective on why the publisher deemed it necessary to close its entire Guitar Hero business unit. "We were so excited about going [in a] new direction with DJ Hero, I think we abandoned a bit of the innovation that was required in the Guitar Hero franchise," he said. "Guitar Hero became unsuccessful because it didn't have any nourishment and care." The series is far from gone for good, though: "We're going to use new studios and reinvent Guitar Hero." Despite cancellations, closures and redundancies following Activision's poor performance in the last financial year, Kotick insists: "The most important thing we do to encourage innovation is give people the freedom to fail."
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Publisher’s reputation a natural consequence of being number one, argues head of developer relations.
Blizzard sends in the siege tanks as it attempts to protect its IP in the face of a backlash by the Korean pro-gaming scene.
Publisher says March quarter revenues and earnings are tracking ahead of its prior outlook.