Activision digital revenue up to $1.7 billion thanks to over 23 million units of Black Ops, over 18 - Polidicks

[img]http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Kotick-Activision-feature.jpg[/img] [release][img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/09/digigrowth.jpg[/img] Just 15 years ago, if you could make a few bucks selling homemade charm bracelets through Prodigy, you were in the vanguard of digital revenue. These days, while the model's still the same, the scale is just a bit different. Take Activision for instance: The company announced during its Analyst Day presentation that it made $1.7 billion in digital revenue over the last 12 months. We're not sure what that works out to in charm bracelets, but it's a lot. Though World of Warcraft has always done huge digital business, the company has gotten a big boost this year from Call of Duty: Black Ops and its hugely popular DLC. As you can see in the chart above, this year's earnings are a big jump from 2010 and 2009, which respectively brought in $1.4 and $1.2 billion digital dollars. Note: When Diablo 3 launches, Blizzard will be taking undetermined fees off the top of player-to-player items sales. So look out for the 2012 Analyst Day when Activision will have to use at least some of the digi-revenue to buy a taller chart. [/release][url]http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/activision-digital-revenue-up-to-1-7-billion/[/url] [release][img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/09/codnumbers530pxheaderimg.jpg[/img] There are quite a few folks with either an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Just over 23 million, in fact, as of numbers tallied following the first nine months of sales by its publisher. Activision revealed as much during an analyst call this afternoon, showing continued sales growth for the Call of Duty franchise versus install base numbers for the two HD consoles combined. If that weren't enough, it looks like a huge chunk of those who purchased BlOps were interested in adding to their multiplayer map variety. Activision's numbers show the latest CoD entry as having moved over 18 million map packs since launch (which, priced at $15 a pop, works out to 270 million dollars in gross earnings), 7 million more than MW2 and 9 million more than WaW. Though the company isn't projecting any map sales yet for the next installment in the CoD franchise, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said on the call, "There's plenty of runway this year, with 20 percent-plus expected growth in the HD console install base alone," referring to the company's expected sales of Modern Warfare 3 this holiday and beyond. [/release][url]http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/black-ops-sold-over-23-million-units-and-over-18-million-map-pac/[/url] So I guess this means $15 map packs are the future of gaming, oh great.

For god's sake, this is giving them the wrong idea! [editline]1st September 2011[/editline] This trend is worrying to say the least.

Panem et circenses.

Holy shit, that's a lot of map packs!

In b4 shocked posts about a business making money and being incredibly successful at it.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32061969]In b4 shocked posts about a business making money and being incredibly successful at it.[/QUOTE] More like shocked posts that these methods actually work

[QUOTE=lum1naire;32062039]More like shocked posts that these methods actually work[/QUOTE] Make a great product that sells really well, nothing too shocking really.

Well. Atleast this doesnt exactly mean that out of the 23 million copies sold, 18 million people bought the map packs. Considering theres like four. [editline]1st September 2011[/editline] Along with the MW2 ones.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32062056]Make a great product that sells really well, nothing too shocking really.[/QUOTE] one could argue that great sales do not require a great product

[QUOTE=Killuah;32062109]one could argue that great sales do not require a great product[/QUOTE] And one would be wrong.

[QUOTE=Nikota;32062087]Well. Atleast this doesnt exactly mean that out of the 23 million copies sold, 18 million people bought the map packs. Considering theres like four. [editline]1st September 2011[/editline] Along with the MW2 ones.[/QUOTE][i]Activision's numbers show the latest CoD entry as having moved over 18 million map packs since launch (which, priced at $15 a pop, works out to 270 million dollars in gross earnings), 7 million more than MW2 and 9 million more than WaW.[/i] So 9 million WaW map packs and 11 million MW2 map packs and at $15 a pop thats 570 million dollars worth of maps sold over 3 games, I imagine MW3 is going to push that near 1 billion.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32062139]And one would be wrong.[/QUOTE] Are you saying MW2 is a great game

This really shows how much money there is to be made by appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Great sales require a decent product, at least. A lot of people find Call of Duty fun, so it doesn't really surprise me that it sold this much. I don't really mind Activision getting so much money. I mean, huge companies are evil and all, but they've been doing good things with the money as of late. Hosting really cool fan events, donating to charity right and left, it's nice.

[QUOTE=soad_jonas;32062217]Are you saying MW2 is a great game[/QUOTE]He likes to defend the series

the only thing this shows is that when you deliver the product that people want in a way that people want you'll strike gold. that's really the only thing represented by this... anything else beyond that is just non-sense. mindless snobbery included.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32061969]In b4 shocked posts about a business making money and being incredibly successful at it.[/QUOTE] What's with everyone saying it's okay for a business to charge more money they should on certain products because business are supposed to make money? I don't think it's fair for the customers to have to pay $15 for 4 maps and 1 zombie map. I don't think I'm in the position to be saying what they're worth, but I honestly think the maps should be at most $10 or sell them separately for $1-$2.50. That way the customer can buy only the maps they want. And don't give me the "it's okay to charge $15 for it because some people will feel that it's worth it" bullshit. The customers would be happier if the price was a little lower. And the business might make more money because more people will be willing to pay the money needed to buy the map pack. If it was $10, I'm sure more people would be okay with buying it and I'm sure more parents of the kids that play COD will be okay with buying it.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32062139]And one would be wrong.[/QUOTE] The MW series isn't really bad, it's just starting to get boring. I get that people love to play it because they play it with their friends, but good god people, you're buying the almost exact same game every time. MW was steak with fries, great steak with great fries. MW2 was an average steak, and the fries sucked. Blops was a steak with a different shape. Guess what MW3 is? STEAK. You know what? I don't want any more steak, and I don't want to pay 60$ for- 1. Something that I already ate 3 times in a row and 2. Something which I know will never be better than the original stake because the cook thinks just because it was good once he can do a sloppy job the next times. Yes. This was a food metaphor. Deal with it.

[QUOTE=Glorbo;32062384] You know what? I don't want any more steak, and I don't want to pay 60$ for- 1.[/QUOTE] then don't judging from the steak-shops people quite enjoy steak.

[QUOTE=thisispain;32062365]the only thing this shows is that when you deliver the product that people want in a way that people want you'll strike gold. that's really the only thing represented by this... anything else beyond that is just non-sense. mindless snobbery included.[/QUOTE] I expect there's going to be a lot of pages after this ranting on about how Call of Duty is the worst game series in the world, period, but as thisispain says, they're releasing a product that people want. This is no surprise to me. People will buy the games they want to play, and evidently people still want to play Call of Duty. Not everybody wants to play what you all consider to be "better" games.

I'll probably do like I did with Blops and buy it and play it until Map Pack 1 comes out.

[QUOTE=Protocol7;32062421]I'll probably do like I did with Blops and buy it and play it until Map Pack 1 comes out.[/QUOTE]I'll probably do like I did with MW1, MW2, and Blops and not buy any of the map packs.

holy crap... for a map pack with 4 maps from WaW and new one. wtf

[QUOTE=SoaringScout;32062372]I honestly think the maps should be at most $10 or sell them separately for $1-$2.50.[/QUOTE] how exactly do you judge the price of a map-pack? holding into account development costs, investment, R&D, bandwidth, salary, insurance, office cost, and licensing. i've heard more meowing about map packs than i have heard about corporations dodging their taxes and the latter is far more important to people's well-being.

The point is, Activision can make the shittiest games in the world, and still make millions, even in this economy.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-7v4qnHP8[/media] Activision right now.

[QUOTE=Glorbo;32062384]The MW series isn't really bad, it's just starting to get boring. I get that people love to play it because they play it with their friends, but good god people, you're buying the almost exact same game every time. MW was steak with fries, great steak with great fries. MW2 was an average steak, and the fries sucked. Blops was a steak with a different shape. Guess what MW3 is? STEAK. You know what? I don't want any more steak, and I don't want to pay 60$ for- 1. Something that I already ate 3 times in a row and 2. Something which I know will never be better than the original stake because the cook thinks just because it was good once he can do a sloppy job the next times. Yes. This was a food metaphor. Deal with it.[/QUOTE] It's up to them if they want to buy it. The formula has proved to be successful. If the market starts to get bored with them, that's going to be reflected in sales. Why is it so abhorrent that people buy the games they want to play? Personally I get good use out of the COD games I buy. I don't like the map pack pricing, so I don't buy the map packs. And that's fine by me. I get the use out of my game, and I choose not to spend more on the map packs.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;32062056]Make a great product that sells really well, nothing too shocking really.[/QUOTE] Half-Life was great, Doom was great, Duke Nukem was great, Battlefield 1942 was great. Labeling the recent COD games as great puts them at pretty much the same level as those games and trust me, the recent COD games are most certainly not at the same level of those games I listed.

[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;32062468]...Are you implying that Black Ops is a great product? [sp]You're a fucking retard if you think so[/sp][/QUOTE] calling someone a retard for liking a game you don't like is also retarded behavior. [editline]1st September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=SoaringScout;32062514]Half-Life was great, Doom was great, Duke Nukem was great, Battlefield 1942 was great. Labeling the recent COD games as great puts them at pretty much the same level as those games and trust me, the recent COD games are most certainly not at the same level of those games I listed.[/QUOTE] the semantics of great isn't something anyone cares about

[QUOTE=SoaringScout;32062514]Half-Life was great, Doom was great, Duke Nukem was great, Battlefield 1942 was great. Labeling the recent COD games as great puts them at pretty much the same level as those games and trust me, the recent COD games are most certainly not at the same level of those games I listed.[/QUOTE] If you're looking at games from an artistic perspective, yes. But not everybody wants a game that's considered artistically brilliant, or innovative. They just want a game they enjoy, and they don't care if the storyline's comparative to a Michael Bay film. "Great" is ambiguous and subjective. Call of Duty has a huge market because people evidently want it, and I can see why. It's an accessible FPS which has a tried and tested, if flawed formula. I don't give a fuck if it's not Half-Life 2. If I wanted that, I'd fucking play it. Different games for different desires.