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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land During his address at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference earlier today, Activision boss Bobby Kotick was talking up Guitar Hero’s plans for world domination. While Rock Band continues to struggle to reach American shelves, let alone European ones, Activision have outlined the series’ potential to take over not just Europe, but Asia as well.
Activision have announced their fiscal results for the past quarter. Seeing as they released both Call of Duty 4, the year’s top-selling game, and Guitar Hero III, the years #1 money-maker, you can probably tell backs are being patted in boardrooms across the company. Sales were up 80% from this time last year, at $US 1.48 billion, while profits were up from $1US 42.8 million to $US 272.2 million. All that cash has cemented Activision’s spot as North America’s #1 publisher, with Activision boss Bobby Kotick saying that NPD figures have them sitting atop a throne built from the skulls of fallen EA franchises. Also mentioned was the fact Call of Duty 5 and several Guitar Hero titles will be out next fiscal year, along with the company’s first Bond game, based on the upcoming “Quantum of Solace” movie. Oh, and over 5 million Guitar Hero songs have now been sold just on Xbox Live. Wow.
Late last month, Activision boss Bobby Kotick issued an ultimatum of sorts. Said the 360 and PS3 needed to get to $US 199, or else. Well, speaking with the San Jose Mercury’s Troy Wolverton & Dean Takahashi, SCEA boss Jack Tretton responded to Kotick’s calls. And by responded, we mean totally call him out: Tretton:…you know, I’m surprised by it, because I would never venture to suggest what software publishers should price their software at. So I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to suggest what hardware should be priced at.
SJM: I guess what he’s calling for is maybe a more nimble reaction to the Wii’s success.
Tretton: I don’t know, maybe he should design a platform.
Oh it’s on. Ringside tickets are $US 25, $US 18 for concession card holders. A Q&A with Sony U.S. games chief Jack Tretton, extended version [Mercury]
Activision had originally forecast that it’d be making $US 1.050 billion in total revenue this Christmas season. Not anymore. No, as the realisation dawned on them that Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4 are conjuring money, they’ve bumped that estimate up to $US 1.225 billion. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick: We are well on our way to delivering our 16th consecutive year of revenue growth and the most profitable year in our history. We are confident that the third quarter of fiscal 2008 will be the largest and most profitable quarter ever.
More profitable than the Pitfall era, even? Exciting times at Activision Towers!
Activision honcho Robert Kotick is not a nerd. He has a totally cool nickname, “Bobby.” And cool guys have a nickname like that. His company puts out cool games like Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero. Bobby recently told a room full of press:
I was at the BA terminal a few weeks ago and I had to take my belt off and it was 20 minutes before the plane was leaving and it was an international flight. I started running and realised I need my belt. My pants fell down. And I tripped.
See? Cool guy. Best part: The plane was four hours late. Hear Him Recount The Story [Sound Clip via Reuters]
