If you’re interested in the financial side of Blizzard, you’ll want to look at this transcript of a conference call with financial reporters, during which Actvision/Blizzard’s quarterly earnings were revealed.The talk features Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, and Michael Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard, along with several of their top financial officers. The discussion is chiefly about earnings ratios, stock buy backs, and international sales of WoW and Guitar Hero, but there are some mentions of Blizzcon as well. Here’s a quote from Mike Morhaime:
One of the biggest attractions at Blizz Con is the opportunity to play pre-release versions of our games. This year we had upcoming games from all three of our franchises, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, playable on the show floor. We received very positive feedback from the players and the press on each of the games, which is a great sign that they will be well-received when we are ready to release them.
...Overall, we estimate that by the end of this year, Blizzard Entertainment will have tripled revenues from 2005 and doubled revenues from 2006. We expect to exceed $1 billion in revenue this year for the second year in a row and it looks like our operating income will be more than three times what it was in 2005. We remain excited about the future of the industry and believe that Blizzard Entertainment continues to be well-positioned to benefit from global growth in online gaming. We intend to retain our leadership position by remaining committed to delivering high-quality entertainment experiences to players around the world, not only with World of Warcraft but also future products under development, like StarCraft 2 and Diablo III.
