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Analysts: Blizzard cannot be rushed into launching StarCraft II, can earn up to US$ 4 million |
Listed in: Opinions & Analysis, Titles Tags: Activision, Activision Blizzard, Blizzard, Michael Pachter
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Jess Lubert of Braen Murray posits that: "Even without StarCraft, I think Activision should be able to get to their current guidance for the year. But without StarCraft, getting an upside to that number might be challenging."
Continued Lubert, "The beta testing for StarCraft hasn't started yet. If it starts in August and takes five to six months, then launching the game this year is next to impossible."
So with the possibility that StarCraft II will not hit the late 2009 launch date target, what people can expect is that they will be getting a game that is thoroughly polished and exceeding expectations.
"Nobody (truly nobody) knows how long the StarCraft II beta will take," said Michael Pachter. "It's highly likely that the game is polished, with few or no bugs. The issue is balance, and until there is a large scale beta, Blizzard won't be able to test every single weapon, defense, etcetera, in order to ensure that the three races are perfectly balanced."
That is why it is no surprise that Pachter is predicting that when it does go on sale, it will rake in as much as US$ 4 million in its opening quarter. With Blizzard games, you know that's definitely possible. If the game is to be sold at a wholesale price of US$ 40 (US$ 50 at retail), that would translate to US$ 160 million in revenues for Activision Blizzard. For the operating profit, they can earn as much as US$ 80 million, or 4 cents per share.
"The Blizzard guys are perfectionists, and if they want to take six months, nobody at Activision is going to challenge them," Pachter said matter-of-factly. "So the bottom line is that StarCraft II will launch when Blizzard says so."
On that, I fully agree with him.
Related Articles:
- Blizzard: No LAN multiplayer in StarCraft II to prevent piracy
- Online petition for LAN in StarCraft II goes live
- Video: 7 minutes' worth of StarCraft II multiplayer action
Via Gamasutra
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Comments
And I really don't like Pachter.. He's a professional analyst? What he says usually can be guessed at by the average person, maybe with a bit of research to get the numbers, but really.. he just kinda says publicly what everyone already can assume.
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