Activision vs. EA

During the last two months, EA went on to release a new addition to the Battlefield family, Battlefield 3, while on Tuesday, Activision released the much awaited Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Both titles have been going head-to-head, and are expected to be among the gaming industry's top sellers for the year. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Activision earns half its annual revenue in the years' final quarter". Both giants have adopted the strategy of releasing fewer, better-quality titles each year and according to Matthew Jacob of ITG Investment Research, this forces them to lean heavily on the new launches. 

As of now, Call of Duty seems to have the upper hand, selling a total of 9 million copies in the first twenty-four hours. IN the case of Battlefield, they sold a total of 8 million copies within the first week of its release. Analysts from Wedbush Securities believe that the newest version of Call of Duty should generate a revenue of $1billion and also become the highest selling game of all time. On Tuesday, Activision raised their outlook for 2011, after report a third quarter profit nearly tripled to $148 million on a 1% revenue gain, to $754 million. They predict full-year sales to be $4.33 billion and per-share earnings of 76 cents. 


EA definitely out-matches Activision when it comes to diversity, with titles such as Madden NFL, FIFA soccer, but lacks a blockbuster in the shooting-game category to match the heavyweight Call of Duty. Both games have been released with perfect timing, giving the video game industry the push it needs to strive in the current economy. Currently, sales of video games and consoles are $1.16 billion, which is down by 6% as compared to last years' $1.23 billion.  


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