Activision Says 3D Won’t ‘Materially Impact’ Sales of Game ‘Black Ops’

The new game Call of Duty: Black Ops, shipping Nov. 9, “looks truly amazing in 3D,” but the company doesn’t expect “it to materially impact the number of units sold this year,” new Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said. The game’s use of stereoscopic 3D “speaks more towards our dedication to innovation and creating the best possible experience for our fans,” he said on a conference call.

Hirshberg said the company still expects Black Ops will be “the biggest game of 2010 and by far our largest title of the year.” The title will be released on more platforms than last year’s hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and “continues to pace ahead in terms of consumer awareness metrics,” he said. “To date, pre-orders of Black Ops have already broken the industry pre-sell record set by” Modern Warfare, and the company has seen “unprecedented levels of support both from our retail partners and from” the first-party hardware manufacturers, “all of whom are vested to make this the entertainment launch of the year,” he said.

Black Ops is Activision Blizzard’s first stereoscopic 3D release (CED Oct 8 p7). The latest entry in its Call of Duty game series will be playable in stereoscopic 3D on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 when it’s released globally. Players will have to use a compatible 3D-ready TV to get 3D functionality on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, the company said. The PC version is Nvidia 3D Vision-ready, requiring 3D Vision active-shutter glasses and GeForce GPUs for 3D functionality. All three SKUs will be playable in 2D on the PC, PS3 and 360, the company said. A Wii version of the game won’t be playable in 3D.

Activision Blizzard is also upbeat about the new Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move motion control systems. The publisher is supporting both systems with games, said CEO Robert Kotick. “Anything that generates new interest in the consoles is a very welcome innovation.” Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment have “both done a very good job of creating products that can broaden audiences” and provide “new opportunities for the way that you interact with the games on the screen,” he said. The publisher was “excited, obviously, that Microsoft has increased the forecast” for Kinect device sales this holiday season “because I think it’s just going to generate a lot of interest and enthusiasm for games overall,” Kotick said. Microsoft last week boosted its Kinect sales estimate from 3 million units this holiday season to 5 million (CED Nov 5 p4). Microsoft increased its estimate for the quarter that started Oct. 1 “based on pre-sales, retail orders and consumer interest,” a Microsoft spokeswoman said. Kinect went on sale Thursday.

There are now “more consoles in more households in North America and Europe than there ever have been before,” said Hirshberg. As of Sept. 30, “there were 242 million consoles and handheld units” installed in those markets across all platforms, an increase of 29 percent over last year, he said. “For the PS3 and 360 platforms alone, the increase is 40 percent over the prior year.” Just as significantly, he said, the “core gamer platforms, namely the PS3 and 360 where we generate the vast majority of our operating income, are collectively up 17 percent year-to-date in the U.S. and Europe.” PC and online sales “continue to expand rapidly and are expected to grow double digits this year,” said Hirshberg.

The publisher expects its September releases Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock “will continue to generate consumer and retailer excitement well into the holiday selling season, where we expect to sell through the majority of units,” Hirshberg said.

Echoing comments made by rival THQ a day earlier, Hirshberg said “retailers are taking a cautious approach to inventories,” and “will chase the winners” this holiday season. “This trend has played in our favor in years past and we expect this holiday to be no different,” he said. “Historically, nine of the top 10 games in any year are based on established franchise, and our Q4 releases are 100 percent focused on proven franchises.” The publisher expects “to benefit from the growing installed base of consoles and increased online sales, especially for the core gamer platforms” in 2011, he said. Activision Blizzard’s largest brands “are thriving, while many other media and entertainment companies, including most of our direct competitors, are experiencing challenges,” said Kotick.

Activision Blizzard reported improved results for Q3 that Kotick said were boosted by strong demand for its Call of Duty and World of Warcraft franchises, as well as the new StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game (CED Nov 5 p8). Profit grew to $51 million, or 4 cents a share, from $15 million, or 1 cent, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue grew to $745 million from $703 million. The results were also stronger than the publisher had expected. The company had expected to report only break-even earnings per share and revenue of $600 million, it said. The company boosted its 2010 revenue and earnings forecast for the year due to the better-than-expected results. For the year, it now expects to report revenue of $4.28 billion and earnings per share of 51 cents, up from its prior estimates of $4.18 billion revenue and 49 cents in earnings per share. For Q4, it expects to report revenue of $1.26 billion and a loss per share of 1 cent.