Activision Q3 Profits up on Guitar Hero, Call of Duty
Activision Blizzard announced a profit for the third quarter, thanks to two important events: a reduction in costs and strong sales of titles like Guitar Hero 5. Shares rose 2 percent in afternoon trading on the news. The company also predicted lower fourth quarter numbers than what Wall Street expected, despite the pending release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which ships next Tuesday.
For the third quarter, Activision reported a net income of $15 million - 1 cent per share - compared with a net loss of $108 million - 8 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Net revenue dipped 1 percent in Q3 to $703 million. Excluding revenue that was deferred from the sale of certain titles, the company said revenue for the period would have been right around $755 million.
In the quarter Activision Blizzard increased its U.S. and European share 1.2 points over the previous year across all platforms to 12.3 percent and had two of the top-10 best-selling titles in the U.S.: Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero World Tour, according to retail sales data from NPD Group (U.S.) and Charttrack and Gfk (Europe).
The top selling games for the quarter were Guitar Hero 5, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and older versions of Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and - of course - World of Warcraft.
For the fourth quarter, Activision is predicting earnings of 43 cents a share on revenue of $2.22 billion, on a non-GAAP basis. Analysts were expecting earnings of 44 cents a share on revenue of $2.3 billion. The fourth quarter will include the release of Modern Warfare 2, Tony Hawk: Ride, DJ Hero and Band Hero.
More tracks revealed for Band Hero
Activision has cracked the curtain on some of the bands that will have tracks in Band Hero, its upcoming music game that probably will face a lawsuit from Harmonix at some point for its name. The game will include such popular acts as Fall Out Boy, Hilary Duff, Boys Like Girls, The All-American Rejects and Jesse McCartney
Additional songs from both the console and Nintendo DS Lite set lists were also revealed, which can be found after the break below. When the games ship on November 3, fans can live out their music fantasies as their favorite music superstars, including singer/songwriter Taylor Swift and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, - both playable in game. Check out the set lists after the break.
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Activision reveals new details on various ‘Hero’ games
Activision announced today that five live downloadable tracks from the 1969 concert by The Rolling Stones will be digitally released for Guitar Hero 5, to coincide with ABKCO ’s 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set release of GET YER YA-YA’S OUT.
In Europe, from launch day through January 6, 2010, “Satisfaction (Live),” “Under My Thumb (Live)” and “I’m Free (Live)” will be released as singles exclusively via Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360. Two additional live tracks, “Prodigal Son (Live)” and “You Gotta Move (Live)” will also be available at launch as downloads on Xbox LIVE, the PlayStation Store and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for Wii.
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Maroon 5’s Adam Levine playable in Band Hero
Adam Levine, guitarist and lead singer for Maroon 5, will soon take center stage in Band Hero, Activision announced today. When the game hits retail stores in November, fans will be able to play as Levine as he rocks out to the Grammy nominated “She Will Be Loved,” Maroon 5’s hit single from their debut album Songs About Jane, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and is Gold and Platinum in more than 35 countries.
“Besides the fact that it is cool to be in a video game, it is also exciting to be thought of as someone that could be in a video game so I am very proud to be a part of Band Hero,” said Levine. “It is really amazing actually, it is one of the more unique things I’ve done in my life and I don’t know if I’ll ever have that feeling again.”
Good for you. I still don’t think he can take Robbie Williams though. Published by Activision, Band Hero is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360 and PS3, by Vicarious Visions for the Wii and by Budcat for the PlayStation 2. The game is rated E10+ (Everyone 10+ - mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes).
Band Hero DS to feature new grip peripheral
If you’re wondering how “Band Hero” (can they get any closer to the name Rock Band than this?) will work on a hand-held like the DS here’s a little bit of ingormation to bring it into focus: The DS version of the game will come with a special finger activated drum grip peripheral to control lead guitar, bass, drums, etc. Like Guitar Hero On Tour, this add-on peripheral will use the DS Lite’s GBA cartridge slot, according to Kotaku, which means it won’t work with the DSi .. because it no longer has such a slot.
Band Hero is set for release on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360 and DS.
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