Well, that’s what I get for expecting a boring investor update. All kinds of info came out in today’s conference call — some good, some bad, and some that are sure to be slightly mangled by the rumor mill. You can read the full transcript yourself, but if that’s a bit daunting, here are the facts that matter if you’re a gamer:
What Was Said: First Strike DLC will come out on PlayStation 3 on March 3.
My Take: Huzzah! Glad there’s a firm date. PC gamers, look for it “later in the quarter.” As I hear more info, I’ll report back.
What Was Said: Call of Duty is coming to China with a free-to-play microtransaction business model (but not this year).
My Take: That’s all that was said; no details. But microtransaction games — like, fantasy MMOs where it’s free to enter the dungeon, but you can buy bits of armor and weapons if you want to upgrade quickly — are very common in China and South Korea, so this sounds like a case of making a game to fit the audience. If you’re a gamer in those territories, this news probably isn’t too surprising, and if you’re not a gamer in those territories, it doesn’t affect you, as you won’t be playing it. This is being built for China, where games like Call of Duty: Black Ops are not available for sale in stores. You get that, they get this.
What Was Said: A new studio, Beachhead, is being formed to work on online COD stuff.
My Take: Beachhead is, according to Bobby Kotick, “focused solely on the development of an innovative new digital platform and social services for our Call of Duty community.” Eric Hirshberg says the platform has been in development for over a year and features “in-game integration.” Remember, Activision says it will “never, ever charge for the multiplayer” of COD games, and they really can’t go back on that — this will have to be something different. And just from that tease, it sounds like it is.
What Was Said: Something big will be announced at Toy Fair.
My Take: Eric Hirshberg spoke of “an all-new gaming universe that brings together the worlds of toys, videogames and online play in a way that I believe to be unprecedented.” It’s expected to launch late this year, and an announcement is coming at Toy Fair…which is a few days from now, so we won’t have to wait long. [Update: He was talking about Skylanders.]
What Was Said: Someone dropped the name “Family Guy.”
My Take: When talking about licensed franchises like Transformers, X-Men, and Cabela’s, Activision COO Thomas Tippl mentioned the phrase “Family Guy” among them. So…guess we’ll hear about that soon? I’ll poke around.
What Was Said: True Crime: Hong Kong is cancelled.
My Take: After the teases and glimpses we got last year, I was looking forward to seeing how this game would turn out. But it Activision says it’s a quality issue. “To be blunt,” said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, “it just wasn’t going to be good enough.” As a fan of quality games, I support this; if you don’t want to win, why enter the race? The developers, United Front Games, are independent (they did ModNation Racers for PS3 last year) and I’m interested to see what they do next.
What Was Said: The Guitar Hero business unit is going away.
My Take: When something is very successful, it’s not unusual to see companies restructure to cater to that success. GH was super hot for a while, so they created a special business unit for GH games. Now it’s cooled off, so there isn’t much need for a dedicated arm of the business to cater to it — time to reshuffle again. That does not mean Guitar Hero is dead, as some people have said, but it is taking at least 2011 off, and quite possibly more time. GH will remain an Activision franchise and the existing titles will still be supported [Update: I'd reported that DLC was still in development, but I was wrong. DLC development has been stopped too -- nothing past February. The source of my confusion is here.]. Mostly, the business unit thing is more an internal hierarchy/flowchart thing and won’t have a direct impact on gamers.
What Was Said: Headcount is going down.
My Take: That’s the nice way to say “there are layoffs.” Eric Hirshberg and Thomas Tippl said it’s due to the restructuring and it impacts about 7% of the company’s global workforce, or around 500 people. I work with some of the folks who are leaving and I’m very unhappy about it. It’s always unfortunate when people lose their jobs and, of course, it’s never done lightly — but it’s also worth noting that you rarely hear anything when people are hired back on. Thomas Tippl noted that they are also hiring up in other areas, so it might actually even out by the end of the year. If that happens, it’s not likely going to be reported.
That’s basically all the important stuff that I heard and all the details I was able to gather. Again, now that there is a transcript of the call online, you can read the original for yourself. If you have questions, I have my notes and a recording of the call, so I’ll try to answer below.
