Update: It's been revealed on the earnings call that along with the new focus and exit from the Guitar Hero space, Activision's headcount has been slashed by about 500, or roughly seven percent of its workforce. COO Thomas Tippl noted, however, that the headcount will go back up as the company is "making significant investment elsewhere." He continued, "Our net head count at the end of the year is probably not going to be materially different given that we're ramping up development teams around Blizzard's new MMO and around the Call of Duty initiatives."
Original story:
Today’s fourth quarter earnings call could yield some interesting results, but one well-known franchise has been put on the chopping block. Guitar Hero has formally been shut down by Activision, who cites “continued declines in the music genre.” Also put out to pasture is the True Crime franchise, which effectively puts an end to the development of True Crime: Hong Kong.
All in all, Activision is looking to 2011 as the year of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Activision made particular note that it is focusing on “high-margin digital growth” for 2011. How that will affect their top franchises remains to be seen, but analysts have been waiting for verification of a subscription-based plan from Activision for Call of Duty for quite some time.
Fans of Bungie should also take note that their new franchise will be shown off sometime this year.
Here's the official word from Activision:
"Activision Blizzard will continue to invest its capital and resources in the significant opportunities afforded by online gaming worldwide and will reduce its exposure to low-margin and low-potential businesses. In 2011, the company will allocate the majority of its resources and focus toward opportunities which we expect will afford us the greatest competitive advantages and the greatest potential for best-in-class quality, high-margin digital growth, and long-term success. These opportunities include Blizzard Entertainment's games currently in development, robust investment in forthcoming Call of Duty titles, the development of a best-in-class digital community surrounding the Call of Duty franchise, a new property from Bungie and an innovative new universe with broad appeal that will be revealed at Toy Fair later this week and will bring the world of toys, video games and the Internet together in an unprecedented way. These investments should better position Activision Blizzard for long-term growth and enable it to continue expanding its position as the largest digital publisher.
"At the same time, due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011. The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences."
