During this in-depth interview with Gamasutra -- conducted during last week's E3 trade show in Los Angeles -- Thomas Tippl, Activision Blizzard's COO, could barely say "$3 billion in cash with no debt" without cracking a smile.
While many publishers are facing major difficulties in the complicated game marketplace of 2010, and are trying to re-entrench in a landscape that's ever-changing, Activision is currently riding high, as the industry's leading light, from at least the business perspective.
While there have been controversies over the company's relationship with its talent which spring from major layoffs and, of course, the situation that ended in the departure of Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, the company has had nothing but success with its Blizzard studio and Call of Duty franchise, with World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2 topping the PC MMO and console game charts.
A variety of new updates are available this month across the gaming platforms. Coming today, Retro Classics games are available to play for Xbox Game Pass members. Players who stream on the Xbox app on PC now have an additional streaming option with GeForce Now. Game Bar introduces quick settings, visual updates for Widgets in Compact Mode, and coming soon, Microsoft Edge Game Assist, an in-game browser that brings an immersive game-centric experience to Edge. And Xbox gift cards can now be redeemed for any amount via Xbox Rewards.
While i appreciate the gesture.... all of these retro classics have been made available everywhere else. I am hoping to see some other Activision properties make their way out of the shackles of the 5th, 6th and 7th gen. Licensing be damned... bring back the Transformers Cybertron games.
Love the Cybertron games! TF games have been shit lately. Would love to see that era revisited. I even did the multiplayer!
Metaphor on Gamepass just announced! O.o
Seriously, this is the best generation of Xbox ever!!!
We can´t catch a freaking break from awesome games arriving all the time!!!
It’s a HELL of a game. If you like JRPGs in the family of Persona, you will be in heaven… that is until you hear the various battle music…. then you’ll be somewhere BEYOND heaven!
According to a developer working on the title, Activision is working on a narrative-based open-world game based on a new engine through its new studio.
It was recently revealed in an exclusive episode of the 'Grit' podcast that EA once passed up acquiring Blizzard, Activision, and Call of Duty.
Only a big company that has interest in gaming like Microsoft or Tencent could have acquired Activision. Extremely low interest rates at that time certainly helped.
Not exactly sure that a merger with EA would’ve benefited any of their franchises or gamers. I imagine it would’ve been like the activision blizzard one were each publisher retains their own identity. So Activison-Blizzard-EA. But who knows.
If it was owned by EA, COD could’ve disappeared a looong time ago. They have no clue how to manage franchises.
It's a shame EA didn't buy them then, COD should die, it's past its prime and has been since black ops 2, I started playing it when cod 4 mw first came out and it has been downhill since.
Because over-pricing products and firing key developers is considered "Good Business"
Of course it's getting better, you're charging more. Seriously, $15 more than any other PC game for StarCraft 2? That's just sickening enough for me not to buy it. By the time Diablo 3 comes out, they'll be charging $90 for it, plus a $15 a month subscription fee.
Go fuck yourself, Activision, your games aren't good enough to be worth that. Blizzard is the only thing you've got going for you.