In a press release issued late Thursday, video-game maker Activision announced its revenues for the first quarter were much better than expected. The company’s booming sales and strong performance are heightening speculation that some of its leading game franchises may wind up on a screen near you in the not-too-distant future.
Activision reported its gross revenues for the first three months of the year were $981 million, three times the amount earned during the same period the year before. Net income, driven in part by the company’s merger last year with Vivendi Games, rose substantially from $43 million to $198 million.
“Our better-than-expected first-quarter results were driven by strong global consumer response to the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, despite challenging economic times,” said Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “For the quarter, we were the number-one third-party console and handheld publisher in North America and the number-one third-party publisher for the Nintendo Wii platform worldwide, according to the NPD Group, Charttrack and GFK.”
Not Slowing Down
The positive financial news came on the heels of several announcements by Activision of planned game releases later this year. In early fall, music gamers will have their choice of Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero, and Band Hero. The company also confirmed development of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, although no date for release of that game has been set.
“During the remainder of the year,” Kotick said, “we plan to release our strongest video-game slate, based on some of the industry’s most profitable franchises. We are raising our calendar year 2009 financial outlook. Our high-quality franchise portfolio, industry-leading operational capabilities, and solid balance sheet should enable us to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by the expanding interactive entertainment market and enable us to deliver continued superior returns to…