DA
08-06-2009, 05:26 PM
StarCraft II's delay has sent major ripples through Activision, prompting Blizzard's parent company to slash some $250 million from its revenue forecasts for 2009.
The new estimates came during the publishers second quarter earnings report (via Videogaming247), where they said that their forecast had been lowered from $4.3 billion to $4.05 billion.
The cut confirms the fears of investors, who had been selling stock in anticipation of the now-confirmed delay. Activision's share price has dropped as low as 14 percent since the beginning of July, and it doesn't get any better.
Rumors of a possible delay had been circulating for weeks, as analysts pointed to the lack of an open beta as evidence that StarCraft II would not be arriving in time for the 2009 holiday season. Blizzard ultimately decided to delay the anticipated title so that they could continue to prepare Battle.net for the game's launch.
It's not all bad news for Activision though. The publishing giant managed to pull in more than a billion dollars this past quarter, and they figure to have a strong showing this holiday season thanks to Guitar Hero 5 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Cold comfort for StarCraft fans, but they can at least rest easy knowing that Activision's pockets will be a tiny bit lighter going into next year.
The new estimates came during the publishers second quarter earnings report (via Videogaming247), where they said that their forecast had been lowered from $4.3 billion to $4.05 billion.
The cut confirms the fears of investors, who had been selling stock in anticipation of the now-confirmed delay. Activision's share price has dropped as low as 14 percent since the beginning of July, and it doesn't get any better.
Rumors of a possible delay had been circulating for weeks, as analysts pointed to the lack of an open beta as evidence that StarCraft II would not be arriving in time for the 2009 holiday season. Blizzard ultimately decided to delay the anticipated title so that they could continue to prepare Battle.net for the game's launch.
It's not all bad news for Activision though. The publishing giant managed to pull in more than a billion dollars this past quarter, and they figure to have a strong showing this holiday season thanks to Guitar Hero 5 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Cold comfort for StarCraft fans, but they can at least rest easy knowing that Activision's pockets will be a tiny bit lighter going into next year.