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EA, ActiBlizz Rule Q3

Kris Graft's picture

By Kris Graft

August 26, 2008

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"While most publishers appear to ramp up release volume in the key Christmas quarter, EA and Activision Blizzard appear to be ramping up release volumes to similar levels in both calendar Q3 and Q4."

An analysis from Screen Digest puts into perspective the kind of weight Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts carry.

Screen Digest's console games publishing analysis for Q3 finds that EA and Activision Blizzard titles combined will account for 75 percent of all Q3 packaged releases for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3.

EA will release the most titles during the quarter thanks to its line of annual sports games, driving the total count to 21 titles. Activision Blizzard will release 19.

Report author Ed Barton said that during Q4, EA and Activision Blizzard will release 40 percent of the titles in that period.

He wrote, "While most publishers appear to ramp up release volume in the key Christmas quarter, EA and Activision Blizzard appear to be ramping up release volumes to similar levels in both calendar Q3 and Q4."

The number of packaged releases coming out of the megapublishers is high, but they both will also be raking in big chunks of overall revenue with console titles such as Madden NFL 09 (EA), Mirror's Edge (EA), Call of Duty World at War (AB) and Guitar Hero World Tour (AB) hitting shelves during the latter half of the year.

The report also said the Nintendo Wii currently offers the largest library of packaged games. Barton said he expects the number of Wii software titles to continue to pull away from Xbox 360's and PS3's libraries during Q3 and Q4.