http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/08/02/world-of-warcraft-guild-wars-2-and-vivendi-activisions-achilles-heel/

WoW by itself is generating 30% of Activision Blizzard's total revenue and that since WoW subscription's have such high profits margins any disruption is devastating to the company as a whole.

As an example WoWs subscriptions brought in $3.76 billion in revenue between 2008 and 2010 and the cost of operating WoW in that same time frame was only $645 million. Thats more than $1 billion a year of pure profit a year just from the subscriptions.

The catch here is that Activision depends on the profit from WoW to pay for its careless spending. If WoWs subscribers takes a hit then there is nothing cover to Activision.

The article further speculates on the impact GW2 will have on WoW and ATVIs stock.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/08/02/world-of-warcraft-guild-wars-2-and-vivendi-activisions-achilles-heel/
WoW by itself is generating 30% of Activision Blizzard's total revenue and that since WoW subscription's have such high profits margins any disruption is devastating to the company as a whole.

regardless of WOW losing subs last year - Activision was boasting great profits for Q3 2011

http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/08/activision-blizzard-q3-digital-revenue-up-25-ytd/

CEO Bobby Kotick called 2011 “a year of many records” both made and to come, and highlighted the company’s optimistic outlook, which predicts further new records in 2012 on the strength of another Call of Duty and Diablo III.

Activision Blizzard confirmed a widely-held belief in revealing that Call of Duty: Black Ops was the best-selling title across all platforms in the US and Europe for the first three quarters of 2011.

World of Warcraft subscriptions also took a hit, dropping by around 800,000 to 10.3 million.

 

 

thanks to COD, Activision more than doubled their profits last year -- despite losing WOW subs

http://www.gamespot.com/news/activision-blizzard-posts-1-billion-profit-in-2011-6350085

 

Why Activision may come roaring back

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903940904577561372514716592.html

 

 

 

 

 

I just thought of something. If WoW somehow does end up losing a lot of profits, Blizzard doesn't really have that many IPs to fall back on do they?

Originally posted by Enigmatus
I just thought of something. If WoW somehow does end up losing a lot of profits, Blizzard doesn't really have that many IPs to fall back on do they?

Blizzard ? Nothing overly successful.  Activision has COD.

One thing to remember is that WoW has more subs than every other MMO combined, if not, then pretty close to it lol.  With the profits it has generated and is still generating, Activision is able to take more chances on things and are in no rush to push out something before it's done.  D3 for some reason was pushed out a little earlier than I think it should've, but still wasn't as bad as some "early released" games, see FFXIV.  That's why they're taking thier time on Titan.  WoW and Blizzard aren't going anywhere anytime soon, they can easily get 5 more years out of it before subs go into the red zone.  Almost every MMO loses subscriptions, then when expansion comes out they get boosted up a bit, then they start losing again...It's the anture of the beast.

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

Well I wouldn't trust anything from Forbes when it comes to gaming companies, they just don't get it, and have probably never played any game except maybe Angry Birds lol.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

And grinding raids over and over again to get a piece of stat gear that will become obsolete by the next patch, forcing you to grind all over again is better how?

They certainly punctuation their ignorance with certainty.

The MMORPG industry doesn't have a whole lot of precedent to go by, so they are guessing. It's not even an educated guess because there's no historical evidence to base the guess on.

They could still be right, but if they are, it's an accident, not prediction.

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

And grinding raids over and over again to get a piece of stat gear that will become obsolete by the next patch, forcing you to grind all over again is better how?

 It makes money hand over fist. It's also not the only endgame activity in WoW

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

And grinding raids over and over again to get a piece of stat gear that will become obsolete by the next patch, forcing you to grind all over again is better how?

To some people doing raids is more about accomplishing something with friends and guild members.   It isn't just about gear.  GW2 will be fun but once you'r e 80 what are you gonna do ?  WvWvW ?  Ok how long will that last until you take a break ?   I'm not saying GW2 won't be a hit, but it won't be nearly as successful as the hype.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

And grinding raids over and over again to get a piece of stat gear that will become obsolete by the next patch, forcing you to grind all over again is better how?

 It makes money hand over fist. It's also not the only endgame activity in WoW

WoW's endgame is one of the bigger reasons why I don't play WoW.

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

If anyone thinks GW2 is gonna sustain 2m players they're a fool it wont sustain 10% of that over a 6 month period.  No PVE end game turns it into a niche PVP game that is fun, but wont fufill what most want.  Sad part is the only vocal people are in the minority and won't admit that farming cosmetic items wont sustain a playerbase.

And grinding raids over and over again to get a piece of stat gear that will become obsolete by the next patch, forcing you to grind all over again is better how?

To some people doing raids is more about accomplishing something with friends and guild members.   It isn't just about gear.  GW2 will be fun but once you'r e 80 what are you gonna do ?  WvWvW ?  Ok how long will that last until you take a break ?   I'm not saying GW2 won't be a hit, but it won't be nearly as successful as the hype.

Fair enough. Let's get back on topic...what was the topic again.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

"Given our projection that WoW will lose 25% of its subscribers to Guild Wars 2 in the current fiscal year we are looking at a potential $9 stock."

What an idiot.

Activision would still be the most profitable publisher in the market. Where do they find these guys?

They project?

Wall Street projections are about as useful as toilet paper.  More then likely he's a shilling for friends that have shorted a boatload of Activision stock.