Digital sales drive record Q3 for Activision

Activision has announced record third quarter sales for the period ended September 30, driven by a 57 per cent increase in digital sales.

Of the third quarter revenues, digital channels accounted for $427 million of the total $754 million in sales. For the year to date, sales of digital products account for $1.28 billion, or 25 per cent of business.

Profit for the third quarter was up considerably, from $51 million to $148 million. The company now expects calendar year sales of $4.33 billion compared to previous estimates of $4.18 billion, and Q4 revenues of $980 million in the month it launched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

"We continue to strengthen our position as the worldwide leader in interactive entertainment and the broadening of our audiences is confirmation that games are becoming as important as film and television as a mass-market form of entertainment," commented Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.

"Our record nine-month results were driven the by the continued strength of our online-enabled franchises.

"Based on our third-quarter performance, stronger than expected consumer response to our new entertainment property, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, we are raising our full-year financial outlook and expect once again to deliver record operating margins and the highest earnings per share in our company's history."