Activision 2012 Annual Report Download - page 17

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 17 of the 2012 Activision annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 100

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100

Our first Skylanders game was introduced in October 2011
with the release of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure®. In just 15
months, Skylanders achieved life-to-date worldwide sales,
including toys and accessories, in excess of $1 billion—faster
than any other franchise in the company’s history.
In 2012, Activision Publishing’s Skylanders Giants™, the second
game in our Skylanders franchise, was the #1 best-selling
kids’ video game of the year. In addition, during the year, we
extended the Skylanders franchise appeal with more than 130
licensing partners, and continued to gain operating
efficiencies in our manufacturing and supply chain operations.
During 2012, in North America and Europe combined,
including toys and accessories, Skylanders Giants was the #5
best-selling game in dollars, and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure,
was the #4 best-selling game. Additionally, through January
2013, we have sold more than 100 million Skylanders toys
worldwide and in 2012 we outsold the largest action-figure
line in North America and Europe.
In 2013, the company plans to release Skylanders SWAP Force™,
which expands upon the franchise’s signature toys-to-life
gameplay by letting kids not only bring physical toys to life
inside the game, but also swap the top and bottom halves of
the toys and create their own unique characters. As an added
value to our current players, seasoned fans of the franchise
can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of
characters from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventures and Skylanders
Giants. We are excited about the continued innovation our
teams are bringing to this exciting new genre of gameplay.
Though not scheduled for release in 2013, a significant new
opportunity we are investing in is Destiny, a large-scale
collaboration between Activision and world-class developer
Bungie, the creators of Halo®.*
Destiny combines Bungie’s trademark grand scope, sci-fi
storytelling and adventures with visceral first-person action
gaming that takes place in an unfolding, cinematic universe.
Destiny will deliver a unique social gaming experience to
consoles by offering players a connected, living world that
they can explore, as well as vibrant social spaces where they
can congregate, celebrate in-game achievements, and share
adventures grouped with friends or solo.
In September 2012, Blizzard Entertainment released World of
Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, the fourth expansion for World of
Warcraf t. The Mists of Pandaria launch was a global event,
including countries in North America, South America,
Europe, and Asia. For the first time ever, our substantial base
of players in China was able to enjoy the expansion pack
content within the same one-week global launch period as
players elsewhere. Despite the decline in subscribership noted
above, World of Warcraft remains one of the world’s great
entertainment franchises and by far the most popular
subscription-based MMORPG in the world.
Additionally, during the year, Blizzard renewed its license with
our partner NetEase for the distribution of World of Warcraft
in China.
In 2012, Blizzard also achieved unprecedented success with
Diablo III, which was the #1 best-selling PC game at retail.
Including digital sales, it sold more than 12 million copies
worldwide through the end of the year and generated more
than $500 million in revenues. The development team at
Blizzard has been updating the game since its May launch,
adding new content, game systems, features, and other
improvements. Additionally, we recently announced that
Blizzard is developing Diablo III for the PlayStation 3 and
PlayStation 4, bringing the beloved Diablo franchise to
consoles for the first time in almost 15 years.
StarCraft® is the only Blizzard core franchise that did not see
a significant new release in 2012. However, on March 12,
2013, Blizzard launched StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm™, the
first expansion to its award-winning real-time strategy game
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty®. The game features a new
campaign continuing the epic story established in Wings of
Liberty and introduces new multiplayer features that enhance
the game’s online experience.
Blizzard also continues to invest in its proprietary online
platform, Battle.net®, which lets players communicate and
collaborate across games while giving the company a way to
interact with and support its players through direct digital
sales, free trials and value-added services. During 2012, over
42.9 million people used Battle.net to play a Blizzard game.
The deep integration of Battle.net within Blizzard games enables
the development of unique and enriching services and features.
*Halo is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ACTIVISION BLIZZARD, INC.
/ 2012 ANNUAL REPORT / 15