Vivendi Games Sales Fall 24% In WoW-Expansionless Q1 2

Vivendi has announced its first quarter results, showing a 24 percent drop in sales in its games division over the year prior -- a period which saw the release of WoW expansion The Burning Crusade -- though Blizzard still saw sales of €192 million ($296.6 million). Overall, Vivendi's games division saw sales of €221 million ($341.3 million). Apart from Blizzard, the contribution from its Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and mobile divisions was "slightly higher" than the year prior, "on the face," Vivendi notes, "of unfavorable currency exchange movements on all business segments." Blizzard in particular saw the addition of another two million subscribers for its World of Warcraft over the past year, bringing its subscriber base to more than 10.7 million. Its next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is expected to be released in the second half of this year. Overall, Vivendi -- which also oversees Universal Music Group and a number of telecom companies -- brought in sales of €5.3 billion ($8.2 billion) for the quarter, up 5.2 percent over the year prior, with profits down from €771 million ($1.19 billion) in 2007 to €697 million ($1.08 billion).