Blizzard 2002 Annual Report Download - page 4

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4/5
leveraging our skills and product mix
to expand our market position
>>> Leadership Through Great Brands:
Activision continues to bring great brands to all of the
gaming platforms. The company’s balanced product
portfolio includes action sports, super heroes, driving/
racing, mass-market and enthusiast-targeted games. Our
product portfolio is based on globally recognized brands
with broad consumer appeal. Recognized brands provide
us with the financial stability and predictability important
to our investors, while at the same time giving us the
flexibility to investigate and develop new properties and
original game concepts that can provide us with addi-
tional financial upside.
>>> Action Sports:
According to NPD Funworld, Activision is the #1 pub-
lisher of action sports games with a 63% market share.
The company’s action sports umbrella brand, Activision
O2, features some of the best-selling action sports
franchises to date including Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,
Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMXand Shaun Palmer’s Pro
Snowboarder, as well as such highly anticipated games
as Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer, Shaun Murray’s Pro
Wakeboarderand Travis Pastrana’s Pro MotoX.
With four action sports games set to be released in fiscal
2003, Activision O2is poised to continue to be the brand
of choice among both hardcore gamers and sports
gaming enthusiasts.
>>> Super Heroes:
In longevity, awareness and reputation, few other entertain-
ment brands can rival the success of Marvel Comics’ Super
Heroes—Spider-Man,the X-Menand Blade. With
a 59% market share as measured by NPD Funworld,
Activision is the leader in the super heroes category and is
set to further expand its market position through the
success of Spider-Man, which is based on Columbia
Pictures/Marvel Entertainment’s blockbuster feature film.
On April 16, 2002, Activision shipped more than one
million units of the Spider-Man game to North American
retail outlets, making it the largest one-day launch in
the company’s history. The high-flying, web-slinging
title is the first game ever to ship on five platforms
simultaneously and continues to top domestic and inter-
national retail sell-through charts.
Additionally, during the fiscal year, Activision signed an
agreement with Marvel Entertainment to bring Marvel’s
“First Family,” The Fantastic Four, and “The Invincible”
Iron Manto the interactive arena. Both of these proper-
ties have entertained fans around the world in the form of
comic books and other media for more than 35 years and
are currently in development as theatrical films.
>>> Driving/Racing:
Earlier this year, Activision established its presence in the
large and profitable driving genre with WRECKLESS:
The Yakuza Missions, a top-selling title for the Xbox
video game system from Microsoft. Activision is continuing
brands