Tag Archives: act blizz q4 earnings

Title says it all, really.

Blizzard COO Paul Sams just said the StarCraft II beta will take place in “the coming months.”

“The beta will be played on a basic version of our new Battle.net architecture, which will give us the opportunity to test the game and the service in a live environment. Over time, we’ll be adding features to deliver a second-generation Battle.net experience.”

Also, more World of Warcraft content is expected for the year, with test realms and updates still using actual players.

Mention was also made of “unannounced MMO” which is still in the “no comment” area.

The news came as part of Activision’s fourth quarter earnings call.

Good stuff there.

Activision Q4 2008 numbers are rolling in. Here’s what we know so far.

• Reported a net loss of $72 million, or 5 cents a share.

• Adjusted revenue was $2.3 billion which was much more than they predicted, and more than $2.15 billion which Wall Street estimated.

• Forecasting  a 2009 adjusted profit of 61 cents per share for adjusted revenue of $4.7 billion for 2009 (includes negative impact of $400 million from a stronger US  dollar).

• Guitar Hero World Tour and Call of Duty: World at War games were the No. 1 and No. 2 console games, respectively, in North America and Europe in the fourth quarter, according to NPD.

• World of Warcraft was the top-selling PC game in those regions 2008.

Call is still on going so more will be announced soon, so stick with us.

(Reuters)

Following the release of fourth quarter financials, Bobby Kotick has said that Activision is not planning on going the layoff route most publishers are suffering at present.

“We won’t be distracted by layoffs and restructuring and things that other companies are going to be distracted with,” Kotick told Reuters in an interview.

“We don’t respond to managing our operating expenses because there’s a financial crisis, we do it all the time.”

Activision reported a net loss of $72 million for Q4 2008.