Tag Archives: Sterne Agee

Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia has highlighted some disturbing figures in Zynga’s finances.

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Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia reckons Modern Warfare 3 could sell as much as 6 million units at launch today, 1 million more than what Black Ops did this time last year in its first 24 hours. “We expect MW3 to grow 10% versus last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, which has sold through more than 25 million units life-to date. We expect 5.5M-6.0M unit sales of MW3 on day 1 and nearly 18M units in the December quarter,” said Bhatia in a note. Big numbers, kids. Big numbers.

Thanks, IG.

Non-stop GTA V, it seems. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia has put an estimated number on the game’s sales, predicting as much as 25 million copies moved for the Rockstar title. That would put it on par with sales of Black Ops and 3 million more than GTA IV. The prediction is near that of Wedbush’s Michael Pachter back in the summer, who said GTA V would sell 24 million copies.

Bhatia added that an announcement of a release date in next week’s trailer would be “positive for the shares.” Take Two shares were up last night following the initial announcement.

Thanks, Gamasutra.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said in a industry note that pre-orders for Battlefield 3 have hit the 1.5 million mark.

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Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia has estimated Rockstar will have spent $105 million on Max Payne 3 by the time development is complete. According to is estimates, if the figure is correct, the game would have to move 4 million units just to break even. The analyst came up with the figure based on the two prior versions in the series selling 7 million units combined, and added in the opinion that “Max Payne 3, has greater potential for success than either of the two prior versions.” He concluded that the title will likely move 4 million units easily has it is “highly anticipated and has potential for upside surprise.”

Max Payne 3 is out in March 2012. Thanks, IndustryGamers.

Analysts have responded positively to EA’s acquisition of casual king Popcap.

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The next big MMO from Blizzard might just be a casual affair, according to one Sterne Agee analyst.

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Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia has revealed that L.A. Noire sold around 900,000 units in the US during May, and according to the cited NPD figued, the game is trailing behind Red Dead Redemption by 40 percent.

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Games industry analyst Arvind Bhatia with Sterne Agee stated in the firm’s latest industry note that he expects Duke Nukem Forever to move between 1.5 and 2 million units, but that actual sales may hit nearer the lower end of the estimate.

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With success, comes “a reasonable bet” for a company to be taken over – at least as far as analysts are concerned when mentioning Take-Two.

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LA Noire will sell within the region of 3-4 million units, according to one analyst’s prediction.

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As if one Thursday shorts post wasn’t enough for you, we now offer you the sequel. Read on about Left Behind games and Sony offering customer service through Twitter.

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Bungie’s new ten-year deal to have its new IP published by Activision seems to be a good enough reason to replace Infinity Ward, according to one analyst.

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EA are looking to get 2 million subscribers when Star: Wars: The Old Republic releases next year, according to one analyst.

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PlayStation 3 will see “the best YoY growth in January” when the NPD results come out next week, according to one analyst.

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Analyst David Cole of DFC Intelligence has told Industry Gamers that it won’t be long before Microsoft released a slimmer version of Xbox 360.

“I think it is a question of when not if,” he told the site. “However, the when part is a big uncertainty … rumors have been going on for a long time. I think people were asking me the same question last year at this time. As cost efficiencies allow smaller and more reliable is always a good thing. However, you also have something like Project Natal which could also tie in with hardware redesigns.

“There are a lot of questions Microsoft must weigh internally and there are always going to arguments on both sides of the fence around timing. So I don’t know, but in our DFC forecasts we anticipated a major redesign in 2010….so I guess that was our bet.”

While the other three analysts the site spoke with, Tom Greenwald of Signal Hill, Arvind Bhatia from Sterne Agee and Broadpoint AmTech’s Ben Schachter, do not agree with him, each do foresee a new SKU redesigned with Project Natal for 2010.

More through the link.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia has predicted that Activision will delay the release of Starcraft 2 into 2010 instead of shipping it in October 2009.

Bhatia expects the game to sell around three million copies with a 2010 release being a positive thing for the company, despite the missing the holiday shopping season.

Activision had no comment regarding a Stracraft date, however, it was announced yesterday that Singularity would be pushed into 2010 to make way for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

More over on TeamLiquid.

Analyst Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee has said in a research note composed after meeting with four GameStop executives, that the game retailer does not see digital distribution becoming a viable market until 2014.

The company says it has “conducted the most thorough study to date” on the subject, and feels that an “addressable market” for digital downloads “will not exist until 2014.”

GameStop management also expects that only 25 percent of consumers, even by 2014, will have access to the technology required to purchase and download digital titles and that it could cost them $100 a month.

Bhatia never said what the reason for this cost would be, but one can assume it applies to subscription fees, broadband service, and possibly PC upgrades.

The study also revealed that due to storage space requirements and customers only wanting to pay $39 per title at most, it would give publishers less of an incentive to use such a service “as some in the industry might think”.

More through Gamasutra.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said in a note yesterday that chatter’s pointing to a summer price cut for PS3.

“Industry sources indicate Sony is planning a $100 price cut on the PS3 in mid-August, just prior the launch of Madden (8/18) and the start of the back to school shopping season. This will naturally be a positive for the industry,” she said.

Hey, everyone! Gamescom’s on in mid-August!

Thanks, Industrygamers.