Activision guidance up after record September quarter

Publisher Activision has announced record financials for the three months ended September 30th, with revenues up by 164 per cent year on year thanks to the strong performance of Spider-Man 2 and Doom 3.

Revenue for the quarter stood at $310.6 million in total, up from $117.5 million last year, making this into the best non-Christmas quarter in the history of the company - an impressive feat in a quarter encompassing the traditionally slow summer months.

Profits, meanwhile, stood at $25.5 million, reversing a net loss of $10 million in the same quarter last year, and putting the firm on track to report a record year overall - with revenue projections being raised by $50 million to $1.15 billion.

The company attributes much of its success during the quarter to sales of Spider-Man 2, which was its best selling title across all platforms, while it also enjoyed significant success with a PC line-up including Doom 3, Rome: Total War and Call of Duty: United Offensive. Doom 3 was the biggest PC launch in the company's history.

A number of other licensed titles also sold strongly on the console platforms, particularly X-Men Legends, Shark Tale and back catalogue title Shrek 2, and the firm is currently planning further Spider-Man 2 titles, this time for the PSP and DS platforms.

"In addition to delivering record net revenues and earnings for the quarter, we also significantly increased our market position in North America and Europe," according to Activision chairman and CEO Robert Kotick.

"As of this date, five of our games have shipped more than one million units each and three of those titles have achieved multi-million-unit status," he continued. "Our focus on big propositions is yielding tremendous results worldwide. As we look to the future, we will continue to leverage our increasing portfolio of franchises as we expand and strengthen our competitive position."

The company also revealed that the Xbox release of Doom 3 is now not expected until late March 2005, and is likely to appear along with the launch of the first expansion pack for the PC versions, Ressurection of Evil - although the final decision on launch dates for both products will rest largely with developer id Software.