Kotick: Majority of Acti titles in autumn

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 April, 2010

Cautions investors despite Q1 bump.

Activision boss Bobby Kotick has said he's cautious about the publisher's prospects for the next few months because most of its big games aren't out for ages.

"We benefited from the record-breaking launch of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 map pack, which was previously expected to launch in the June quarter," Kotick said as Activision raised its outlook for the March 2010 quarter.

"It is always helpful to begin a year with great momentum," he noted. "However, we remain cautious about the economy and consumer spending and the fact that the majority of our games are not expected to launch until the fall."

Activision releases Blur for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 28th May, but its new Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Spider-Man and James Bond games, among others, aren't expected until the run-up to Christmas.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • tobsen #1 2 years ago

    I see a big shitstorm coming up on the horizon of this comments thread...

  • TruWari3r #2 2 years ago

    Not a lot of expectations then for Singularity out in June.

  • ChuckNorris #3 2 years ago

    That sounds like an amazing line-up.

    /sarcasm

  • Fab4 #4 2 years ago

    So what if Bobby Kotick is cautious? He's still a cunt....just he's now a cautious cunt.

  • TheTingler #5 2 years ago

    Yeah, I'm with you TruWari3r. Poor old Raven, poor old Singularity. If even Activision can't get excited about one of their own games, why should we?

  • aldo_14 #6 2 years ago

    They certainly have impressive momentum in shedding staff...

  • Gurgeh #7 2 years ago

    They'll just farm out more mini-transactions for World of Warcraft. How much effot did it take to create the downloadable mount for $25? The US queue (yes, queue) to download it stood at 120,000 last night, or a cool $3 million for Activision's coffers.Who needs to make new games?
    Edited by Gurgeh at 16/04/10 @ 09:12

  • PYF #8 2 years ago

    I wonder how many of the people who said they'd be boycotting Activision games in previous COD etc threads will actually put their money where their mouth is (or not, as the case may be).

  • Redeye #9 2 years ago

    The only Acti title that even remotely interests me at all is War For Cybertron, and that I'll be more than happy to purchase second-hand. And that's only because it's a Transformers game...if it was any other publisher behind it, I'd buy it new, but as I've said many a time, Kotick will never, ever see one red cent of my hard-earned.

  • actionfitz #10 2 years ago

    "Activision boss Bobby Kotick has said he's cautious about the publisher's prospects for the next few months because..."

    nearly everyone who reads a games forum or news site hates his company and a high percentage of the creative industry will probably avoid Activision employment like the plague after reading about the fate of Infinity Ward.

    "We benefited from the record-breaking launch of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2..." and from sacking and withholding the earnings of the staff who gaves us the highest earning game of all time.

    /Fixed.

  • Fab4 #11 2 years ago

    "I wonder how many of the people who said they'd be boycotting Activision games in previous COD etc threads will actually put their money where their mouth is (or not, as the case may be)."

    I didnt buy WaW after the abysmal beta. I also didnt buy MW2 because it looked just like the 2 previous instalments with added perkage. I'm pretty sure my resolve will extend to a few more future releases. I'm still having fun on CoD3 though, so what do I know :p

  • geeza2020 #12 2 years ago

    "Kotick spews usual crap about Activision being in a strong position. No-ones listening"

  • the_mtfr #13 2 years ago

    Wow how is this poor company gonna survive with just a few tens of billions from springtime until autumn? Caution advised indeed.

  • Shikasama #14 2 years ago

    If I'm a high roller shareholder, I want Bobby Kotick running my company.

    Hate him all you like, he is extremely good at what he does, even if what he does isn't very nice

  • thesombrerokid #15 2 years ago

    @Shikasama i think you'll find that to be less prophetic than you might think, in free market capatalism being an underhanded bastard pays off (and makes you desirable to investors) but being such an open bastard alienates your staff and consumers and shareholders know this will eventually result in a loss of share value and treat you like a bubble rather than a steady earner.

  • grizzly_hamster #16 2 years ago

    @PYF Acti will have to actually make some half decent games that I'm vaguely interested in before my boycotting is even remotely tested. I've never liked CoD, I don't play World of Noobcraft, I was always a Total Annihilation boy rather than Starcraft, and I'm sick to bloody death of stupid little plastic periphirels, and that's pretty much their entire line-up - completely devoid of any imagination, character or originality. Although I do agree - poor old Raven :(

  • tobsen #17 2 years ago

    @Thought_Criminal: Thank you for your passionate and concise post. Especially the image of that proton torpedo thing made my day :)

  • Acrid #18 2 years ago

    Stupid Cunt

  • FuzzySnuggleDuck #19 2 years ago

    ^^^

    Hows that for passionate and concise :)

  • chrisola #20 2 years ago

    I liked MW2 and it still gets a bit of play time, but i have no interest in the map pack as the 2 remakes were my least favourate in MW 1 and the others don't look particularly good. I wouldn't buy it at any price for this reason (it'd add at least 2 more maps i'd have to quit games to escape from in mp!). I also don't 'get' WoW so would never play it, even if it was free. I suspect some people play up similar feelings like these to try and get 'cool points' with the talkbackers (or something) or so they can join the boycott crowd and talk shit about the company that made these games, but that's their choice.

    I personally won't boycott games i'd otherwise enjoy playing for the sake of making a point or for 'the greater good' or because the boss is a twat or whatever. It reeks of cutting your nose off to spite your face.

  • Slipstream #21 2 years ago

    Would never boycott a genuinely good game, fortunatly this has never been the issue with Acti. Name because the only title I own with their name on it is Tenchu on the PSone, and that's due to them publishing it haw haw!

  • oupe #22 2 years ago

    Word to Activision shareholders: Sell! What a pathetic line-up.

  • gnrlstuart #23 2 years ago

    i wish bobby all the best :).

  • craziii #24 2 years ago

    no, bobby in wall street terms is called: pig. a guy who sees short term gains only. they get slaughter in tough times, look at all the big name companies that failed in the last 2 years. they are pigs.

    if you want him to run you muti-billion dollar company, you are doomed. and yes, I also recommend you guys to sell.

    not saying IW is a great company, or the staff is very talented, but this whole thing really really put a stinker on activision. a guy who can't even manage PR for his company is useless.

  • metroid455 #25 2 years ago

    man i really wish this Kotick guy would just piss off

  • peteersimmons #26 2 years ago

    We benefited from the record-breaking launch of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 map pack, which was previously expected to launch in the June quarter, Kotick said as Activision raised its outlook for the March 2010 quarter.
    memory stick