ACTIVISION QUIT THREAT!

by Han
published by Rinie 24 June 2009



They say all good things must come to an end. Therefore we should not be too surprised to know that, Activision’s partnership with Sony maybe coming to an end. The main reason for this is of course, money.

Here is a quote from our news source

“The PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation.

They have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates [the number of games each console owner buys] are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.

When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too.”

The Activision Blizzard President and CEO Bobby Kotick is quoted to ask for Sony’s licensing fees reduced, and a price cut for the ever popular PS3. He probably would not mind seeing some incentives like advertising dollars, either.

For the record, Activision Blizzard produces the following games: Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk Series, Dreamworks and Marvel movie titles, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo—although the Blizzard games are yet to be available for console, you get the picture how big this company is.

With the credit crunch munching into various industries, even massive companies like Sony and Activision are feeling the pinch. How would Sony respond to this in the long term? Would the PS3’s price be reduced because of this threat? Would other major game developers follow suit? Keep reading Spotgamers to stay updated.


1st Source: Multiplay
2nd Source: Gizmodo