Activision Profits Sink, Kotick Blames 'Inadequate' Competition
No names, but three guesses who he's talking about.
Activision's taken a bit of a financial pounding this past quarter, as profits fall and operating costs rise. What does CEO Bobby Kotick blame its lagging game sales on, though? Nope, not softened demand - but "a stream of products that are less than adequate from some of our competitors." Meow.
Although it brought in around $1.075 billion for the three month period ending June 30, its profits sunk by 45 per cent to $185 million and its spend climbed to $848 million. For comparison's sake, the same period last year brought Activision $1.146 billion, profits of $335 million and operating costs of $679 million. Digital sales hit $343 million, a third of total sales.
"I think you've had, unfortunately, a stream of products that are less than adequate from some of our competitors," Kotick told investors after the financial report. "The demand in the marketplace is for great quality products.
"If you look at the success we're having it validates that there is an opportunity for great quality products but I think at this stage in the cycle, it's challenging for anything other than great quality products.
"There's also a lot of competition for entertainment dollars - you look at mobile games and what's happening there and the pricing there that's having an impact. And I also think that a lot of the games we make, like Call of Duty, that are multiplayer games offer a lot of replayability, and when you have the opportunity for replayabiity in an economic environment like this, you're going to spend more time playing the games that you have."
Kotick also addressed the issue of unemployment and challenges in Europe that are putting pressure on the Call of Duty company, along with the fact that we are "at the late end of the [console] cycle... [which] is always going to have its share of difficulties."
Via GI
Although it brought in around $1.075 billion for the three month period ending June 30, its profits sunk by 45 per cent to $185 million and its spend climbed to $848 million. For comparison's sake, the same period last year brought Activision $1.146 billion, profits of $335 million and operating costs of $679 million. Digital sales hit $343 million, a third of total sales.
"I think you've had, unfortunately, a stream of products that are less than adequate from some of our competitors," Kotick told investors after the financial report. "The demand in the marketplace is for great quality products.
"If you look at the success we're having it validates that there is an opportunity for great quality products but I think at this stage in the cycle, it's challenging for anything other than great quality products.
"There's also a lot of competition for entertainment dollars - you look at mobile games and what's happening there and the pricing there that's having an impact. And I also think that a lot of the games we make, like Call of Duty, that are multiplayer games offer a lot of replayability, and when you have the opportunity for replayabiity in an economic environment like this, you're going to spend more time playing the games that you have."
Kotick also addressed the issue of unemployment and challenges in Europe that are putting pressure on the Call of Duty company, along with the fact that we are "at the late end of the [console] cycle... [which] is always going to have its share of difficulties."
Via GI
Companies:
Activision
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