Activision's (NASDAQ:
ATVI
)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
has earned more than $500 million in worldwide retail sales
during the first 24 hours of its release. Thousands of retailers
nationwide, including GameStop (NYSE:
GME
) and Best Buy (NYSE:
BBY
), opened at midnight on Monday evening to give consumers the
chance to acquire the game a few hours early.
"With first day sales of over half a billion dollars
worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment
launch of the year for the fourth year in a row," Bobby Kotick,
CEO of Activision Blizzard, said in a
company release
. "Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have
exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for Harry
Potter and Star Wars, the two most successful movie franchises of
all time."
Kotick also said that given the "challenged macro-economic
environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and
2013."
Activision has faced a challenging environment since it
unofficially retired
Guitar Hero
and
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
two years ago. These games were among the many cash cows that the
firm had used to raise annual revenue. That changed as consumers
lost interest in the perennial rehashes of both franchises.
Tony Hawk
survived many years of declining sales, but Activision pulled the
plug on
Guitar Hero
after only a few failed releases.
Call of Duty
is often compared to Activision's weaker franchises because the
series is updated annually. But in alternating between two
different development studios (Treyarch created
Black Ops II
, Infinity Ward developed
Modern Warfare 3
), Activision has managed to maintain the level of quality that
consumers expect.
This is not the only franchise that has been consistently
profitable for Activision. The company continues to make money
from World of Warcraft, which charges players a monthly or annual
fee and is upgraded with expansion packs every year. The
long-awaited
Diablo 3
performed
very well
when it was released in May, selling more than 3.5 million copies
during the first 24 hours.
Activision also found a new cash cow in the birth of
Skylanders
, a video game that features real toys that can interact with the
game. The new franchise was introduced last year and is expected
to
add $500 million
to Activision's 2012 earnings.
Unlike
Call of Duty
and
World of Warcraft
, which appear to be here to stay,
Skylanders
has yet to prove that it can stand the test of time. With only a
year on the market, it is wholly possible that kids will
eventually tire of the franchise and move on to something
else.
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@LouisBedigianBZ
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