Activision's no longer just Activision anymore; as of last week, it's Activision Blizzard from here on out. But over the last fiscal quarter while it was still just Activision, the company pulled in $US 650 million in revenues, topping its own estimation of $US 500 million. This first fiscal quarter of 2009 was the publisher's highest non-holiday quarter on record, said Activision Blizzard president and CEO Bobby Kotick.

Kotick also said he was looking forward to the possibilities ahead now that the combination with Vivendi is finalised.

Full announcement after the jump.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVID) today announced that Activision's stand-alone preliminary financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, which ended on June 30, 2008, prior to the closing of the transaction with Vivendi, on July 9, 2008, were higher than Activision's previously provided first quarter outlook.

For the fiscal first quarter, Activision expects record net revenues of approximately $650 million and earnings per diluted share between $0.16 and $0.18, an increase from Activision's prior outlook of $500 million in net revenues and earnings per diluted share of $0.04 on a stand-alone basis.

Excluding the expected impact of expenses related to equity-based compensation of $0.02 per diluted share and expected one-time costs of $0.03 per diluted share related to the business combination between Activision and Vivendi Games, Activision's stand-alone non-GAAP earnings per diluted share are expected to be between $0.21 and $0.23 per diluted share, as compared to Activision's prior non-GAAP outlook of $0.13 per diluted share which had excluded $0.02 per share for expenses related to equity-based compensation and $0.07 per share for one-time costs related to the business combination between Activision and Vivendi Games.

Activision's performance was driven by the North American launch of Kung Fu Panda early in the quarter, which was the largest launch of a DreamWorks Animation licensed property by Activision. Late in the quarter, Activision had two record setting North American launches from the Guitar Hero franchise - Guitar Hero: On Tour, which was the largest North American launch for the Nintendo DS(TM) in Activision's history and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which ranked as one of Activision's top-five North American multiplatform launches.

"Activision's first quarter stand-alone net revenues and earnings were the highest ever for a non-holiday quarter," stated Robert Kotick, President and CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. "Our significant overperformance in Q1 would have further added to our previously given stand-alone fiscal 2009 net revenues and earnings outlook, making it by far the largest and most profitable year in Activision's history. As we have recently closed our transaction with Vivendi Games, we will be providing an outlook for Activision Blizzard as a combined company moving forward."

Kotick continued, "We are extremely excited about the additional possibilities created by the completion of our combination with Vivendi Games last week and remain very optimistic about the long-term opportunities. Both Activision and Blizzard Entertainment's businesses have maintained their momentum and Activision Blizzard is well positioned to exceed the financial goals set for the combined company."

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