Video game publisher,
Activision Blizzard Inc. (
ATVI
)
is extending its reach on mobile platforms. Activision recently
announced that its upcoming new mobile game
Skylanders Cloud Patrol
will be available on
Amazon's (
AMZN
)
Kindle Fire as well as on just-released Kindle Fire HD.
As previously announced by the company,
Skylanders Cloud Patrol
will also be available for download from
Apple's (
AAPL
)
iTunes App store and can be played on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
The addition of Kindle Fire is expected to boost the game's user
base going forward.
The storyline of
Skylanders Cloud Patrol
is similar to the web and console versions of the Skylanders
franchise. The mobile game is set in a region of Skylands ruled by
the followers of evil Portal Master Kaos. Gamers get to play the
role of Portal Master, who faces the challenges and finally
eliminates the evil rulers with the help of 30 different Skylander
characters.
In the course of the game, players can unlock Skylanders and win
in-game virtual items by using a password available with each
Skylanders action figure. Gamers can also purchase in-game virtual
items by using virtual currency, which is an added feature of the
mobile version.
For the first time in the franchise's history, players will be
able to buy Skylander toys within the game app. The feature is
exclusive to Kindle Fire users, who can immediately unlock the
digital character. Although the new mobile game is not a free app,
we believe that the popularity of the "Skylanders" brand coupled
with its availability on Kindle Fire and Apple devices will benefit
the new game going forward.
It seems that Activision is seriously redrawing its mobile
gaming strategy to strengthen its position in the rapidly growing
mobile gaming market. Although the company introduced a mobile
feature known as
Call of Duty Elite
with its highly successful
Modern Warfare 3
, Skylanders is its first popular franchise with a full mobile
version.
We expect that Activision will continue to release mobile
versions of its popular games going forward in order to gain market
share in the mobile gaming sector over the long term. Moreover,
this will provide it a significant competitive edge over
Zynga Inc. (
ZNGA
)
and
Electronic Arts Inc. (
EA
)
in the mobile gaming sector.
Thus, we maintain our Outperform recommendation on the company
over the long term (6-12 months). Currently, Activision has a Zacks
#2 Rank, which implies a 'Buy' rating in the short term (1-3
months).
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