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Despite record-breaking sales of Call of Duty games, only 30 per cent of publisher Activision Blizzard’s profits come from console games.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told The Wall Street Journal (reported by Gamasutra) that weak disc-based console game sales didn’t concern him.
“I care a lot less,” he said. “It used to be, I would religiously look at weekly retail sell-through data, but it’s a very small part of our business now.
“Today, probably 70 per cent of our operating profit comes from non-console-based video games. So, while you might see a month-to-month change or volatility against expectations, that doesn’t really get us too concerned.”
The 70 per cent figure will surprise many given how successful Call of Duty – predominantly a console-based series – is.
Modern Warfare 2, released last November, smashed UK sales records on its first day of release.
It sold an estimated 1.23 million units, grossing around £47m.
Obviously the bulk of Activision Blizzard’s operating profit comes from Blizzard’s MMORPG behemoth World of Warcraft, which has 11.5m active subscribers.
No wonder Kotick wants a subscription-based CoD.
