Modern Warfare 2 boasts the highest number of preorders in the history of Activision.
Comparative year-to-year results were impossible due to the fact that Activision Blizzard didn't come into existence until July 2008, when it was formed by the merger that was formed between Activision, Inc. WoW cataclysm Gold and Vivendi Universal Games. (The parent company, the French company Vivendi holds a major stake in the company that was founded just a year ago.) The publisher's loud Chief Executive Officer Robert Kotick took the opportunity to declare that the megapublisher has surpassed expectations each quarter since it was founded.
"Since our merger in the year that we joined we've delivered better than expected performance in our financials for the past four quarterly periods" stated the chief executive. "Our second quarter performance was due to Actionvision Publishing's Prototype, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The WoW Cataclysm Classic franchises, and Blizzard entertainment's WoW Cataclysm Classic. Amidst a tough economic climate, Activision Blizzard grew its quarterly North American and European market share 2.8 points across all platforms to 12.7 percent, up from 9.9 percent the previous year. It was the most popular North American third-party console and handheld publisher during the quarter as well as the first half of this year calendar, in accordance with Charttrack, the NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk."
"No Starcraft II for you! Come back in a year!"
While the report today might be an earful for Activision Blizzard shareholders' ears however, it also contained some shocking information for gamers. According to rumors, Blizzard tainment's Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty won't launch until the beginning of the second half of 2010. "Over the last couple of weeks, it's become evident that the process will require more time than expected to create the brand new Battle.net to launch Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty," the Irvine, CA-based company said in an announcement. "The updated Battle.net can be a key element in our StarCraft II experience and will become an integral part of of the games we play in the future. The extra time for development is crucial to help us to realize our vision for the Battle.net service."
Starcraft II's delays and the earlier announced postponement of the Sci-Fi shooter Singularity have caused Activision Blizzard to lower its total-year guidance for the year to $4.3 billion, to $4.05 billion.
In a conference call with analysts after the announcement, Kotick, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffiths, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime, and other executives shared the following information:
-The game cheap Cataclysm Classic Gold is still offline in China however, it is "ready to launch again pending receipt of the required permission by China's government. Chinese administration."
DJ Hero's tracks are heavily localized with European versions focusing on "dance songs."
