A Potential Catalyst for Activision Blizzard
World of Warcraft is Activision Blizzard 's crown jewel. The game brings in recurring sales and has a huge user base. However, since 2010 the company has seen a rapid deterioration in that user base, as it has slipped from 12 million to around 9 million today.
In the following video, Senior Technology Analyst Eric Bleeker looks at the region driving most of the losses: China. While Activision receives less revenue per user in that region, as the billing model is different and the game is licensed through NetEase, the sheer number of users makes the region very important.
One potential catalyst for stemming the high level of defecting Warcraft players in the region is the release of the newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria. While the Chinese government had held up past expansions because of "objectionable content," Mists of Pandaria already has approval. With the game's U.S. release date of Sept. 25, the approval from the Chinese government should pave the way for a release in the country near the same time. To see Eric's full thoughts on Activision and World of Warcraft , watch the following video.
Zynga's post-ipo performance has been dreadful, and investors are beginning to wonder whether it's game-over for this newly public company. If you're a video-game investor wondering whether there's any hope left for the company, you can learn everything you need to know about this company and whether it's a buy or a sell in our new premium research report. Don't even think about picking up shares before you read what our top analysts have to say about Zynga. Click here to access your copy.
The article A Potential Catalyst for Activision Blizzard originally appeared on Fool.com.
Eric Bleeker has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Activision Blizzard. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Activision Blizzard and NetEase.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
