Is Activision Blizzard Running Out of Ideas?
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) is one of the world's largest video game publishers with a wide assortment of titles for sale, but its continued success has for years depended on a remarkably small group of franchises.
Its Activision division has ridden Call of Duty's yearly release schedule to nearly $20 billion in sales since 2003. Mobile studio King, which Activision acquired in 2016, has made Candy Crush a franchise that rivals (or even surpasses) Electronic Arts' Angry Birds.
The Blizzard segment may have other top-selling titles, but for over a decade, its cash cow has clearly been the Warcraft universe of games. For over 25 years, Blizzard has carefully cultivated a reputation for delivering a small number of accessible -- but extremely polished -- titles. Warcraft has been a critical part of this long-running brand-building effort.
Source Fool.com
