Activision CEO sees growth in current game slate
Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, speaks at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York November 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) - Activision Blizzard Inc expects to drive growth by expanding the reach of its existing game portfolio but sees less opportunity in new markets for mobile and social games.
Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said that as the $50 billion video game industry's customer base continues to grow, the company's blockbuster franchises like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" still have the ability to reach new gamers.
"The place where you have the opportunities for growth is within the communities of franchises we control," Kotick said at the Reuters Global Media Summit on Tuesday.
But Kotick saw less revenue potential in games played on smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone and those played on social networks like Facebook, where start-up Zynga has been dominant.
"We don't view the App Store as a really big opportunity for dedicated games," Kotick said.
Social games -- which are free to play -- attract a huge number of users, Kotick said, but it's more difficult to translate that into revenue.
"It's a different question assessing it as a business opportunity. Right now we don't see an opportunity for us to participate in that market," he said.
In contrast, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello told the Reuters Global Media Summit on Monday that his company is investing heavily in mobile and Internet-based games.
Activision is the largest stand-alone game publisher in the world. The company was formed in 2008 through the merger of Activision with Blizzard, the former games unit of France's Vivendi SA, which still owns more than half the combined company.
Credit: Reuters (www.reuters.com)
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