Activision's Kotick Talks Guitar Hero Expansion, Possible Call Of Duty MMO

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in California, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has raised the possibility of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) Call Of Duty game, as well as hinting at plans for further expansion of the Guitar Hero franchise. As reported by consumer website GameSpot, Kotick was responding to a question on what new opportunities might arise from the forthcoming merger of Activision and Vivendi Games/Blizzard. In his response, Kotick suggested that Activision would be able to learn from Blizzard’s expertise in the MMO market and help to suggest how a Call of Duty MMO might work. However, it is unclear whether his comments were merely a hypothetical example of possible synergy between the two companies or a real hint at future plans. Kotick has already caused recent controversy on the subject of MMOs when he suggested it would take any company $1 billion of investment to compete with Blizzard’s World of WarCraft, while highlighting high profile failures in the genre from other major publishers. In another, more straightforward, example of co-operation between the two companies Kotick also suggested that Activision would take advantage of Blizzard’s expertise and contacts in Asia, in order to launch the PC version of Guitar Hero in China and Korea.