Today Activision hosted a conference call for its investors to discuss second-quarter earnings (Q2 games included Shrek Forever After, Blur, Singularity and Transformers: War for Cybertron, plus some of the Call of Duty map packs — Stimulus on PC/PS3, and Resurgence on 360). I always like to listen in because interesting info crops up during these calls.
The news that matters to gamers was that True Crime: Hong Kong has been pushed to 2011. As with Blur and Singularity — both of which garnered decent reviews after delays — I’m actually happy to hear a game is going to get more time to be as good as it can be. COO Thomas Tippl said there will be more investment in the game as a result, so that’s good.
Call of Duty was of course a topic — you might be shocked to hear that Activision thinks it will be a big hit. During a question about the COD map packs and the reaction to their price, Tippl said “The success of the map packs speaks to the value we are providing.” (Honestly? He’s right — people who bought it did like it, and people who didn’t buy it are no doubt happy as well.) Bobby Kotick added, “We have gotten a large benefit from this very large install base. A lot of that learning will be incorporated into the functionality of Black Ops, improving the quality of the multiplayer beyond anything people have ever seen.”
Tony Hawk: Shred was also mentioned, noting it will offer skating and snowboarding, and “improved controls.” I’m very happy to hear that. (I’ve seen a tiny bit of those new controls and I am even happier). I am expecting something more on Shred soon.
The Bungie deal was also name-dropped; Tippl noted that Bungie’s team has what it needs and is up and running, building what he would only term as its “new universe.” I don’t think we’re going to hear anything but fleeting teases for a while.
In addition to saying the WoW: Cataclysm beta would soon expand to accomodate more players (currently it contains “tens of thousands”), Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime noted that, while StarCraft II is not part of the Q2 sales period, it moved 1.5 million units in the first two days, and an expansion pack is tentatively slated to appear before the end of the year (but “as with all Blizzard games, it won’t ship until it’s ready”). SCII will join Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions in Q3, so adjust the line graph on your fridge accordingly.
Isn’t better when I actually leave all the mind-numbing financial stuff out?
