Analysts: Blizzard cannot be rushed into launching StarCraft II, can earn up to US$ 4 million

Posted Jul 29, 2009 at 2:25PM EST by Mabie A.

Listed in: Opinions & Analysis, Titles Tags: Activision, Activision Blizzard, Blizzard, Michael Pachter

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Blizzard is well known for their release policy of "it's done when it's done". Some people may balk at the open-endedness of this schedule, but really, with the high quality of products they are known to make, no one is in the position to complain or to dare challenge them to go faster -- not even Activision.

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.

Via Gamasutra

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Reread the article.. Couple of missing numbers and like [[ US$ 40 (US$ 50) ]] happening.

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.

# thanks, navani! — Guest 2009-07-29 16:49

it's wholesale price of US$ 40 (US$ 50 at retail). fixed now.

# DNF — Neuromancer 2009-07-31 04:02

It'll be done when it's done, just like the DNF said for a decade. Oh wait...

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Analysts: Blizzard cannot be rushed into launching StarCraft II, can earn up to US$ 4 million

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