Gaming News - G4TV: Activision Q2 '10 Earnings: Net Revenue Down, Online Sales Exceed

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Activision Blizzard reported net revenues of $967 million for the second quarter 2010, down seven percent over the same period last year, and saw revenues generated by online sales exceed those from retail for the first time, the publisher revealed during a report to investors today.


Despite the decline in revenues, caused in large part to a smaller release slate and continued drops in the music genre, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick reassured investors, saying, “For the first and second quarters, we outperformed our earnings per share outlook, and we grew our operating margin year over year for the six month period, driven by our focused effort to increate digital revenues. There are clearly more opportunities than ever before to create great games and we are at the forefront of doing so.”

Call of Duty continued to be a major revenue generator for Activision, next to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and, for this quarter, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, which has become the fastest-selling RTS of all time. Sales of Call of Duty map packs have surpassed the 20 million mark, and Activision says it expects those sales to continue to grow, with packs for Modern Warfare 2 expected to surpass those for World at War in a “couple weeks.”

While it wasn’t nearly as drastic as the 75 percent drop that Electronic Arts saw over the past year, Activision did see a 36 percent decline in Wii sales between the second quarters of 2009 and 2010. PlayStation 3 sales improved by 20 percent while sales for Xbox 360 rose just four percent over last year.

Activision has understandably high hopes for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, with Bobby Kotick revealing that the game will end up being the “biggest investment” Activision has ever made in a game. Given that preorders of Black Ops have already exceeded those placed for Modern Warfare 2 last year, I’d say that investment will prove to be a sound one.

Open-world reboot True Crime: Hong Kong aside, Activision said it is on schedule for its remaining 2010 titles, which includes Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, DJ Hero 2, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, GoldenEye 007, James Bond 007: Blood Stone, and Tony Hawk: SHRED. Blizzard also said their much anticipated expansion World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is on pace for release by year’s end as well.

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