Tag Archives: 2012
Diablo III sells 12 million in 2012
Diablo III sold more than 12 million copies throughout 2012, Activision Blizzard announced today along with its fourth quarter financial statement. The quarter was no slouch, either, with the usual success of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Skylanders Giants’ powerful holiday retail presence.
Blizzard Entertainment’s other big release this year, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, was the third best-selling PC title at retail. As of December 31 the heavyweight MMO maintained a player base of 9.6 million members, dipping back down from 10 million immediately after the expansion’s launch. Its all-time high remains in 2010, at which point its global subscriber base exceeded 12 million.
The Skylanders dominion of figurines and games has made more than $ 1 billion in worldwide sales, and more than 100 million of the toys have been sold worldwide as of January 2013. Check out our preview of Skylanders Swap Force before your little sibling/annoying neighbor children/sweatpants-wearing collector friend get their grubby mitts on them.
Getting down to brass tacks, Activision Blizzard brought in $ 1.768 billion dollars in net revenue, up more than 25 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. Its net income grew by more than 250 percent from last year to $ 354 million.
U.S. spending on games content down 9% in 2012
U.S. consumers spent a total of $ 14.8 billion on video game content in 2012, down nine per cent from $ 16.34 billion the previous year.
That’s according to a new report from retail monitor the NPD Group, which primarily attributes the decline to a drop in physical retail sales.
While total physical spending on games (new, used, rental) dropped 21 per cent year-over-year, from $ 11.25 billion to $ 8.88 billion, digital spending increased by 16 per cent, from $ 5.09 billion to $ 5.92 billion.
The decline is perhaps unsurprising given that we’re in the late stages of what has been an unusually long home console cycle, although two new gaming platforms launched last year in the form of Vita and Wii U in February and November respectively. The market appears to be crying out for fresh home console hardware from Microsoft and Sony, and its calls are expected to be answered in time for the 2013 holiday season.
Last month, NPD revealed the ten best-selling U.S. retail games of 2012, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 coming out on top. Check out our list of the 100 most anticipated games of 2013.
Borderlands 2 ships 6 million in 2012
Borderlands 2 shipped more than 6 million units in 2012, Take-Two reported today. Add in the less-specific-but-still-heartening “commercial success” of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and continuing strength of NBA 2K13, and it looks like the publisher had a pretty good third quarter.
The Gearbox-developed shooter-RPG hybrid is considered one of Take-Two’s most important long-term properties. The game released in September as part of the publisher’s second quarter, but its continued sales as well as those of its continued DLC made it one of its strongest performers.
XCOM was also one of Take-Two’s three strongest contributors this quarter, and Take-Two said the game enjoyed “particularly successful digital sales.” Also, remember that other XCOM game, the shooter? 2K Marin is still working on it, despite being revealed years in advance of its strategic cousin, and it’s planned for release in fiscal year 2014.
Overall, the publisher’s third quarter net revenue was up by more than three quarters year-over-year to $ 415 million, though its net losses grew fourfold to $ 71 million.
Resident Evil 6 sells 4.8 million in 2012
Resident Evil 6 sold more than 4.8 million copies in 2012, Capcom revealed in its most recent financial statement. That isn’t bad at all. But it’s a few million short of the 7 million figure it predicted earlier in the year.
“[T]he flagship title “Resident Evil 6″ (for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), despite recording brisk sales when it debuted, subsequently lost its momentum, resulting in the failure to achieve planned sales and fulfill its role as a driver of sales expansion,” Capcom’s report read.
The series made survival horror into a thriving genre of its own when it debuted on PlayStation, but since then has strayed more into dramatic portrayals of over-the-top action. Resident Evil: Revelation’s producer said last week that returning the series to its horror roots is important.
For now, Street Fighter II for SNES remains the company’s best-selling title at 6.2 million.
The surprise success of Dragon’s Dogma, which Capcom said sold more than a million copies, as well as growth across the Monster Hunter franchise helped keep Capcom in for a strong nine months ended on December 31, 2012. Capcom’s digital division (as opposed to its arcade and casino machine divisions) sales grew by almost 40 percent compared to the same period of 2011, though its income ticked up only 0.2 percent.
Pot Prices – December 2012 THMQ
Index Watch: The Mids Index essentially held steady in December after last month’s leap in average price. At $ 288 an ounce, the Mids Index finished the year $ 9 above its year-to-date average. Meanwhile, the Kind Index jumped $ 14 in average price, finishing the year $ 5 above its year-to-date average. The top five strains (with average price) were: Kush ($ 349), Purps ($ 363), Diesel ($ 366), Haze ($ 338), and Cheese ($ 340). CURRENT US PRICE INDEX: $ 340 …More
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