GamesIndustry.biz reports that Activision Blizzard has announced it expects its upcoming quarterly earnings report will reflect higher than projected net revenues and earnings per share. They do not specify how far beyond the 8 cents/share prediction they are expecting to report, but say the good news is based on strong global consumer response to the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises and Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft. The report also comments on Blizzard's break with The9 to publish WoW in China and their new partnership with NetEase: "We believe this new relationship will promote a consistent level of quality and service in mainland China for each of the games that Blizzard Entertainment is partnering with NetEase on, including Warcraft III and StarCraft II, as announced last year."