Activision Blizzard Set To Outdo Quarterly Targets On Strong Software Sales

Activision Blizzard is set to outdo its $860 million net revenue target in the March quarter. The company says software sales have been better than it planned, although it didn't offer specifics. Neither did Activision offer new estimates for how much it expects to report. "We exceeded our quarterly financial goals as the video game market continues to grow and our franchises continue to perform," CEO Robert Kotick said in a statement. The company cited World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Guitar Hero as outperforming expectations. Said Kotick: "This bodes well for our upcoming spring titles Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which are inspired by theatrical feature films releases, Prototype, a new intellectual property, and the release of Guitar Hero Smash Hits as well as continued sales of our recently released Guitar Hero Metallica game." As part of the same announcement, Activision confirmed it would not renew its licensing agreement with The9 for World of Warcraft in China, opting to go with NetEase instead. Analysts say the new deal could offer the company substantially more royalty revenue.