We Have Moved

Pixel-Love is now at: pixellove.wordpress.com

A copy of the content remains here so links don't break, but everything is ported, so if you want to look through the archives we suggest you head over to the new site.

Monday, December 12, 2005

2005 News Round Up - Activision

"Through December, Next Generation is running a series of features looking at how leading publishers fared in 2005, including the highlights and lowlights."

  • Activision extended its Spider-Man deal, and held Dreamworks into a 12-year agreement, covering the likes of Shrek and Bee Movie.
  • In the last year, Activision bought Vicarious Visions, best known for its handheld expertise, kids games specialist Toys For Bob and Quebec-based Beenox.
  • Activision's year ending March brought in record revenues of $1.4 billion, 50% higher than the previous year. Profits came in at $138 million. Bobby Kotick said, "We delivered the highest net revenues, operating margin and earnings in the company's history." It's doubtful that achievement will be repeated this March.
  • Clearly identifying a new revenue stream, Activision has been one of the main proponents of in-game advertising, working with research outfit Nielsen to talk-up the sector's potential.
  • Bobby Kotick branded Take-Two’s budget-priced ESPN sports titles as “irresponsible” and “disruptive” and predicted way back in January that game prices for the next generation would be up $10. He added, "We haven't raised prices as an industry in 20 years. Look at the movie business as an analogy. You're not getting any more hours of entertainment -- it's the same two hours of a motion picture -- and yet you're spending twice as much as you did 10 years ago."
more at next-gen.biz

No comments: