Activison Reports 30% Decline In Sales

Activision had some bad news for investors this week as it announced that their earnings fell 30%, compared to the same time last year. The previous figures for the company tallied $97.3 million in net sales income. The most recent figures totaled only $67.9 million. Activision explained that the drop was due to the public™s “wait and see” attitude for the new Sony and Nintendo consoles, with gamers holding off on buying present-gen games as a result. Another factor may be due to the shortage of Microsoft™s 360. In a strange reversal of fortune, Microsoft has actually “encouraged” gamers to hold off for Sony™s PS3 and Nintendo™s Revolution because they could not meet the demand for their own next-gen console. If not enough 360s are sold, no games are sold for the 360. According to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg News, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities said, “Most interest has shifted to next-generation games, and the next-generation hardware isn’t fully into the market.” However, there may be another reason for Activision™s poor performance ” their game catalog. Aside from their successful Call of Duty franchise, their game titles should bear some closer examination. Consider the following games by Activision: Fantastic Four, Lemony Snicket, X-Men, Spider-Man, Stuart Little, Shrek 2, Shark Tale, and Madagascar. See a pattern here? All of the titles are movie tie-in games. Now let™s look at some of their non-movie tie-in games: Wolfenstein, Vampire, Quake, Tony Hawks, Tenchu, Soldier of Fortune, Medieval: Total War. There is a pattern here too. All of these games are from old franchises. As far as their present day offerings, we have: GUN, True Crime, and of course, Call of Duty –all shooters. Activision needs to look no further than its source of game material as the probable cause of its woes”a preponderance of movie tie-in games, declining interest in game franchises and a narrow vision for new game titles. We™re not picking on Activision as much as we™re trying to point out that Activision™s problems may be a reflection of the current position of most of the game companies, which seems to be, Give them more of the same. They won™t notice. Contrary to popular belief, yes, the gamers did notice.