Activision: assessments of the social gaming company "Out Of"

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With skyrocketing room for upstart tech companies is not just a naysayer scientists, crying "bubble". Activision (Activision-Blizzard, to be precise) skeptical of numbers made for competitors like Zynga and Rovio evaluated or several billion dollars to put them out of reach for easy purchase. Maybe they hope to pick up their song after the alleged bubble POPs. Activision, long game, or is it just wishful thinking?

Speaking at Gamescom in Cologne, Activision Publishing director Eric Hirshberg poured cold water on the idea of making major investments in social gaming through high-profile acquisition of the company:

Evaluations of some companies in this space not in order, so this is a problem when it comes to acquisitions ...But don't be mistaken, thorough and methodical planning for inaction. Any new place, where people play the game, is that we are interested in.

Unfortunately, in the fast moving social gaming space, sometimes too much planning meant inaction. While Activision has many successful titles, no single approach or even trying to replicate, super-wide, super-shallow distribution titles like angry birds and Farmville. In the meantime, million sellers made overnight in wave virality that Activision seems not able to produce.

At the same time, the rate of growth of the sector said the volatility of the market. While Rovio is unlikely to suddenly reveal that it was folding underdiversified game library, it is possible that next year will bring more sobering results or mixing in the field of more examples of rapid growth suggests that the template is not only for those companies — in this case, the high valuations could be looked at as optimistic. At this time, Activision will be waiting for him.

In any case, the commentary does not imply Hirshberg any great level of illumination at Activision's part. This kind of bemused skepticism does not inspire confidence, either, which (as Nintendo) probably impatient with the failure of the world's largest Game maker take advantage of this new paradigm. They can begin to see light, though: they plan on social izing Call of Duty, one of the most popular franchises in the game, a social network of elites in the game. They are still late side; I think they hope that will be a very good thing.

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