Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

[Feb 09, 2011, 9:43 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Activision Blizzard's December Quarter and Calendar Year 2010 Financial Results are online, as expected. For the quarter the publishing giant announces GAAP net revenues were $1.43 billion as compared with fourth-quarter 2009 net revenues of $1.56 billion, which is a a GAAP loss per share of $0.20, adding that: "Revenues from digital channels for the quarter were more than $470 million, an increase of 40% year over year." For calendar year 2010 GAAP net revenues increased to $4.45 billion, as compared with $4.28 billion for 2009, and earnings per diluted share increased to $0.33, as compared with $0.09 per diluted share for 2009. As was already revealed, they add: "At the same time, due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011. The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong™. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences." There were also revelations in their post-earnings conference call, as they announced plans for a new digital content studio called Beachhead for "the development of an innovative new digital platform and special services for our Call of Duty community," though exactly what that means is open to speculation right now. And while Shacknews notes they have no games on the 2011 schedule right now, a follow-up on PC Gamer says Activision has not ruled out a 2011 release for the action/RPG sequel, quoting an Activision rep saying: "We have not announced a release date for Diablo III."

View

19 Replies. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
< Newer [ 1 ] Older >

19.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 15:36

Trevellian

StealthR6 wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 10:14:
Jerykk wrote on Feb 9, 2011, 23:12:
Err, what? Tactical shooters? Where? The last tactical shooter I recall was SWAT4. 99% of shooters since then have been linear, highly-scripted, pseudorealistic military shooters.

God how I miss Rainbow Six and Swat. WTF, where have all the good tactical shooters gone? Cod is an action 1st person shooter, just with a military theme. Totally agree Jerykk, though there may be hope... keep an eye on Ground Branch, one of the devs from the original Rainbow Six is working on it! Once these baboon corporations get their head out of their asses, because sooner or later, everyone will get sick and tired of the action shooter. Perhaps one day we'll see another elite tactical shooters. Didn't the Rainbow Six and Swat franchise make tons of $$$$???

To this day Swat 4 remains one of my favorite games. Tazering people repeatedly on your team was amazing fun...




For the Republic -TrevellianC22 Planetside 2

18.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 10:14

StealthR6

Jerykk wrote on Feb 9, 2011, 23:12: Err, what? Tactical shooters? Where? The last tactical shooter I recall was SWAT4. 99% of shooters since then have been linear, highly-scripted, pseudorealistic military shooters. God how I miss Rainbow Six and Swat. WTF, where have all the good tactical shooters gone? Cod is an action 1st person shooter, just with a military theme. Totally agree Jerykk, though there may be hope... keep an eye on Ground Branch, one of the devs from the original Rainbow Six is working on it! Once these baboon corporations get their head out of their asses, because sooner or later, everyone will get sick and tired of the action shooter. Perhaps one day we'll see another elite tactical shooters. Didn't the Rainbow Six and Swat franchise make tons of $$$$???

17.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 09:13

InBlack

Verno wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 08:31:

This is a catastrophe for Blizzard. Kotick is going to put them under pressure to release a Diablo game every seven to eight years. Blizzard already made clear that such a ridiculously short production cycle will lead to a rushed product. They said that they need at least 10 to 13 years for a high quality game. Poor Blizzard.

Sadly I can see this happening as well. It's only a matter of time until Call of Duty wears thin on gamers in the same way that Guitar Hero did. Then it will be time to step on Blizzard's back.

I think Blizzard is the only non-independent studio that has remained more or less untouched by the suits that own them. It doesnt take a genius to see why eather. WoW is simply too valuable and makes too much money for Kotick or anyone else to dare to meddle with their production style/cycle.

I dislike WoW to the extreme but at least it has this one good thing going for it. Its revenue allows Blizzard to keep making great games pretty much as if they were an independent studio. So i guess thank you WoW fans....

This comment was edited on Feb 10, 2011, 09:36.




I have a nifty blue line!

16.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 08:31

Verno

Drezden wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 00:47:
lol. They canceled True Crime Hong Kong? The only game that Activision showed at E3 that remotely interested me because it wasn't the same as the other slop they were releasing, and they cancel it. Good job.

Of course they canceled it, they couldn't turn it into a yearly franchise. The irony of them being first to abandon the music genre after inadvertently burning it to the ground is quite amusing too. They made their money, who cares about the consequences right?

This is a catastrophe for Blizzard. Kotick is going to put them under pressure to release a Diablo game every seven to eight years. Blizzard already made clear that such a ridiculously short production cycle will lead to a rushed product. They said that they need at least 10 to 13 years for a high quality game. Poor Blizzard.

Sadly I can see this happening as well. It's only a matter of time until Call of Duty wears thin on gamers in the same way that Guitar Hero did. Then it will be time to step on Blizzard's back.




Playing: Faster Than Light, Tales of Graces F, Fire Emblem 3DS Watching: Ghost in the Shell, Hannibal, Oblivion

15.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 07:45

El Pit

This is a catastrophe for Blizzard. Kotick is going to put them under pressure to release a Diablo game every seven to eight years. Blizzard already made clear that such a ridiculously short production cycle will lead to a rushed product. They said that they need at least 10 to 13 years for a high quality game. Poor Blizzard.




Consoles? I owned two: a Pong clone and an Atari 2600. And that's it.

14.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 06:42

InBlack

If Diablo3 comes out in 2011 (calendar year, not the fiscal quarterly year which lasts until spring 2012) Im going to...

...well buy it first and foremost, but Im willing to bet good money that it aint happening...




I have a nifty blue line!

13.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 03:49

Kajetan

StingingVelvet wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 03:06: Expect this to be a common theme over the next 5-10 years. For big corporations like ActiBlizz, yes. But this also opens opportunities for smaller companies and devs to fill the "traditional" SP game hole, the majors publishers created in leaving this market segment. The "Rise of the Indies", the ongoing success of Valve and other niche publishers/devs was only possible, because the majors left for bigger revenue streams. And therefore, yes, please Activision: Concentrate on all those most lucrative genres, do your thing ... and leave people with other gaming tastes in peace

12.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 03:06

StingingVelvet

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 02:06: What the FUCK!? Cancel True Crime: Hong Kong, and keep pumping out bullshit CoD nonsense, with apparently some sort of online store crap attached to it? I have to admire their malevolent cunning that led them to purchase Blizzard(and their bankroll) but what the hell, Activision needs to die immediately. Ugh, Blizzard... why oh why did you sell out to Activision? Hopefully Diablo 3 comes out relatively unscathed, before the heat death of the universe. Corporations exist to make money man, that is their sole goal. CoD makes them a ton of money, WoW makes them a ton of money. Of course they are going to cancel average singleplayer games and start concentrating on online services which make them a ton of cash, it is common sense for them. Expect this to be a common theme over the next 5-10 years.

11.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 02:06

MoreLuckThanSkill

What the FUCK!? Cancel True Crime: Hong Kong, and keep pumping out bullshit CoD nonsense, with apparently some sort of online store crap attached to it? I have to admire their malevolent cunning that led them to purchase Blizzard(and their bankroll) but what the hell, Activision needs to die immediately. Ugh, Blizzard... why oh why did you sell out to Activision? Hopefully Diablo 3 comes out relatively unscathed, before the heat death of the universe.

10.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 01:20

Creston

So basically all they're doing now is making a new Call of Duty game every year. Once the idiots finally stop buying twenty million copies of the exact same game every year, MAYBE Activision will finally just vanish! /hopes fervently. (And don't remind me about Blizzard, dammit!) Creston

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 01:03

Mark

Ahhhh spam everywhere, take cover! Back on topic, I'm really surprised and a bit sad about the cancellation of True Crime Hong Kong. This preview made it sound really promising: http://tinyurl.com/6drtsbm

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 00:47

Trevellian

lol. They canceled True Crime Hong Kong? The only game that Activision showed at E3 that remotely interested me because it wasn't the same as the other slop they were releasing, and they cancel it. Good job.




For the Republic -TrevellianC22 Planetside 2

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 10, 2011, 00:25

spindoctor

Sepharo wrote on Feb 9, 2011, 21:33:
Sounds like a digital platform for CoD players ala Battle.net and Steam. Probably with a simultaneous launch of subscription CoD. Kind of like the launch of Steam with CS 1.6

Calling it a "new digital platform" does seem to imply what you're saying but at the same time, they can't pull off that shit on the consoles, and I doubt they would do all that just for the PC.




Some of the most miserable and unhappy gamers on the planet are at Bluesnews

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 23:17

nin

Sepharo wrote on Feb 9, 2011, 21:33:
Sounds like a digital platform for CoD players ala Battle.net and Steam. Probably with a simultaneous launch of subscription CoD. Kind of like the launch of Steam with CS 1.6

Kotick probably rages every night thinking about how much money Valve has made off of his games.

My thought exactly. They're actively looking for ways to make more money, and they're not going to pass up the chance to hit the COD community.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 23:12

Jerykk

Err, what? Tactical shooters? Where? The last tactical shooter I recall was SWAT4. 99% of shooters since then have been linear, highly-scripted, pseudorealistic military shooters.

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 22:59

Hump

after this year is out I think people are going to be kind of burned out on tactical shooters for awhile.

Homefront, Battlefield 3, the free BF2 online game, Crysis 2, another CoD no doubt, perhaps another Modern Warfare title from the renewed Infinity Ward team and more than likely a few other titles I'm forgetting at the moment.




---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue." - Jim Goad

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 22:15

Cutter

Beachhead sounds more like a nickel and dim shop where any future games will be the exceedingly short and entirely bare bones and any kind of upgrade - which one normally associate as being included in a complete game - will be sold by Beachhead.

Glad I don't play those particular games anymore.




"Are you crazy? Is that your problem?" - Jack Burton

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 21:33

Sepharo

Sounds like a digital platform for CoD players ala Battle.net and Steam. Probably with a simultaneous launch of subscription CoD. Kind of like the launch of Steam with CS 1.6

Kotick probably rages every night thinking about how much money Valve has made off of his games.




[I'm not trolling I'm just] tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. -TrollinThundr

Re: Activison Financials - Beachhead Studios Announced

Feb 9, 2011, 21:17

ASeven

One thing's for certain, Activision survived unscathed from the 70s/80s crash, this report shows they are quite a financial powerhouse that will probably survive anything that's thrown at them today. And PC has 9% of the market, almost half as the xbox and half as the PS3. Respectable numbers, though MMORPGs, as in, WoW, takes 24% of the market pie. The only way I could see Activision in trouble would be if WoW were to disappear overnight. Always fascinating to look at any Quarterly Results.

19 Replies. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
< Newer [ 1 ] Older >