Tag Archives: q4 financials

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.

A new Guitar Hero DS game is to be expected in 2009, along with another Guitar Hero game for consoles, which Activision said will be announced at a later date.

Guitar Hero as a franchise will receive a "major re-staging" in the fourth quarter of 2009, the company said.

Guitar Hero has an install base of 32 million worldwide, the firm said, and outsold Rock Band four-to-one in the US despite supply constraints.

GH was the number one selling franchise in Europe with a 122 percent increase in holiday sales.

Activison said the genre is generally robust, and consumers will be accommodated by the release of different music genres to its games.

The company expects the music kit game install base to grow by 53 million units in the coming year, and new users to franchise have broadened the demographic and want more variety.

To help the company accomplish their growth in the Guitar Hero franchise, in Europe it will include more Euro bands.

The company said the release of DJ Hero will be innovative and take franchise in new direction.

In addition, a greatest hits compilation will be released, and with Metallica being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this will help the sales of the upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica, which is set for a March release. The PS2 version will arrive a bit later on.

THQ’s announced that it’s now sold more than $1 billion’s worth of Nickelodeon games, and has shipped more than 50 million units from the franchise.

“With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, THQ continues to lead in family entertainment,” said Jim Huntley, director, global brand management, THQ.

The publisher announces Q4 figures tomorrow.

Piper Jaffray analyst Anthony Gikas has raised his price target on Activision to $35 from $31 and placed the company on Piper Jaffray’s Alpha list, according to this AP report.

The news comes ahead of Acitvision’s fourth quarter financials, which are to be reported on Thursday.