Take-Two's Quarterly Earnings call is today at 1:30PM PST. And Activision Blizzard's call is tomorrow at 1:30PM PST as well.
The reason you've been seeing a bunch of new game announcements and release dates over the past couple weeks is because we're in the middle of various shareholders meetings and it's the beginning of a new year for gamers.
In the past, Mike Morhaime has used this call for official announcements like release dates, new games, and new services. Take-Two has also announced new games or release dates during this time.
Would be nice if Activision Blizzard were to announce the Diablo 3 release date tomorrow, rather than fans having to wait until BlizzCon 2011. They usually have one big announcement they want to make at BlizzCon.. so that's why I'm hoping the release date is announced much sooner.
* UPDATE:
Looks like the Take Two call was pretty disappointing and simply reiterating what everyone already knew. Their future lineup is looking pretty thin, and I think they're putting all of their bets on MLB2K11, Top Spin 4, DNF, LA Noire and BioShock Infinite. It's nice to see more of a PC lineup for 2011 and 2012 though (e.g. The Darkness 2, X-COM, Bioshock Infinite, and Spec Ops: The Line). At least we'll see X-COM this year but I was hoping for something new, oh well.. hope Activision Blizzard has some good news tomorrow.
I'm starting to get a bad feeling about DNF too.. the game is starting to look very linear and just like DOOM 3 (incl. the dated graphics.) I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans when the game comes out with very poor reviews and sales. So if you own stocks in TTWO, I would recommend waiting until the official release date announcement and sell off shares about 1 month before the release date. Then, just buy back shares (at a much reduced price) after the TTWO stock tumbles. =]
First QA question was about Max Payne 3. No updates today, "still being worked on" is what they said last.
He also asked about other versions (platforms and/or DLC) of Red Dead Redemption, but they don't have any announcements about it yet: "nothing to say about future iterations."
A little bit of light humor here, triggered by the recent announcement of a new Zombie TV series. =]
If you recall, back in early November, I made a light-hearted blog entry post-dated to the future (March 26, 2011).
It turns out that a lot of what I wrote about is coming true. =]
- The cost of the game was going to be $59.99 (the main purpose of the post was because THQ's CEO complained that the standard price of $59.99 was too much for games, and that they were going to change.)
- Homefront was going to sell around 4 million copies.
- The PC version would get pushed back.
- There would (will) be a UK expansion pack.
- Cataclysm would sell about 3 million copies.
- A major WoW nerf following Christmas sales.
- Another new zombie-based TV series would be in the works due to the success of The Walking Dead (which first premiered the week earlier).
- And homefront DLC with zombies (ie, an announcement of the future release).
Not bad so far.
The CW is developing a zombie apocalypse series entitled "The Awakening" and NBC is developing "Zombies vs. Vampires".
The PC version hasn't been delayed _yet_, but as you recall they're having a lot of issues finishing off the game. Lots of overtime and stressed workers. It hasn't been pushed back yet.. they might still, or release it with bugs and patch later (to meet commitments). For now, March 8 is still the official release date for all 3 platforms (PC, PS3 & X360).
(UPDATE: IT GOT DELAYED!)
Now I'm just waiting for launch day to see their sales figures, expansion pack info, and maybe a mention of a Homefront DLC with zombies. =]
In other "spooky" news,
- I nailed that Active Subscription Count estimation using Blizzard's own geography based subscriber statistics. That was a nice vindication.
- I anticipated something really big happening within Take Two in November and just two days before they announced major "restructuring" and the TTWO CEO stepping down, etc. I also anticipated even more layoffs by TTWO, which has just happened (publicly) in the UK with more coming. There were even some silly stock trader enthusiasts from some Yahoo Finance forum that called b.s. on all of that.. I wonder how much money they lost by not watching the signs? =]
- And then there was a post where I talked about the "Insane in the Membrane" title and the return of the Zulian Tiger & Qiraji Battle Tank. I forgot all about that actually, until someone recently reminded me. Those were several months before the official announcements and before anyone else knew. Although.. those weren't really predictions.. I received more of a confirmation from a source. =] (The new Zulian Tiger isn't out yet - but there's still a plan for it by the way.)
I'm not sure if I missed anything else. I usually forget what I've written about and just move on to new posts. Often I need to go back over old posts to remember. =]
- Oh right! This isn't really a prediction, but if you had wisely followed my Gold Making Guides on collecting rare recipes from opposite factions, you would now be proud owners of the most expensive cooking recipes known to man. =] They're easily selling for 10-20k each now, and they'll be selling as high as Dirge's Epic Recipe eventually. I have about 100 recipes (that are impossible to get post-Cataclysm) that will easily sell for 100-250k gold in a year or so. =]
Sometimes I scare myself.
* UPDATE (03/16/2011):
LOL - They're dropping the price of Homefront from $60 to about $40 on the second day of release. They should have done this from the beginning, but many game studios use inflated prices to give the perception of quality.
Looks like they not going to even go over 1M sales on the first day, even after all of that hype. The game leak (almost 2 weeks early) and various information reveals (e.g. single player campaign length) certainly didn't help. Piracy can't be blamed here though, it was all about quality. During the first 24 hours, they sold 375,000 copies in North America alone.. normally the other countries would sell at least the same amount or more, but since it launched in NA first gamers are seeing all of the bad single-player reviews (which is why it's always a good idea to launch worldwide simultaneously). Multiplayer is looking pretty good though, and it should do well in the long run.
Take Two has just filed for a new trademark officially called R*. It's going to be an online music store featuring "music and digital music downloadable from the Internet and wireless devices." It will also be offering ringtones for cellphones, MP3 downloads, other audiovisual and entertainment content.
Rockstar Games currently has a partnership with Amazon.com and iTunes, and right now you can only order their music through those other stores. But it looks like they want to cut out the middle-man and start selling the music directly to the consumers themselves. (I wonder if Apple and Amazon know about this yet? Their partnerships only started a couple years ago actually.) =]
Soon, you'll be able to purchase music CDs, such as "The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV", Red Dead Redemption, and other greatest hits from most (if not all) of their games directly from Rockstar's new online music store.
Here's a link to the Trademark registration if you're interested.
And here's a photo of an "example" Music CD used in the registration:
Yeah, I know.. it's kind of boring news, but hey I'm the first to announce it. =]
I'm actually shocked that they didn't already HAVE an online music store.. I didn't even know they didn't have one until I saw the new trademark registration.
Take-Two has confirmed that they just laid off 30 staff from their Visual Concepts studio (they are the developers of the 2K Sports titles). (Link)
The reason for the lay offs?
"In order to properly align its resources with its current and future goals, and to continue to develop games as efficiently as possible, 2K Sports has eliminated approximately 30 positions at its Visual Concepts studio. These reductions will not affect 2K Sports’ ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its upcoming release of NBA 2K11."
This is some of the activity I've been on the lookout for since my earlier post on the Red Dead Redemption PC port. Could this be a sign of Take-Two trimming the hedges with future lay-offs on the way? Many of the Rockstar offices have been pretty scared the past several months waiting to see what their future holds.
The reason for this might simply because of the amount of money they can potentially lose because of the franchise, Gamespot explains. It makes sense though, based on the timing. Next quarter is probably when we'll see some more activity.