4 ms·

I'm interested to hear about expectations for Diablo III. I'm long ATVI because of their dividend, financials, and value fundamentals. Gaming also seems like

I'm interested to hear about expectations for Diablo III. I'm long ATVI because of their dividend, financials, and value fundamentals. Gaming also seems like a growth industry and Blizzard/Activision have some strong gaming franchises. I figured the upcoming Diablo III launch would only help the situation.

politician 15y ago
I love Blizzard's timing... by setting a date we can surmise that WoW's Free-to-Play model is failing and that May 15 is the latest date that a release-date-averse publisher like Blizzard feels it can still preempt the Guild Wars 2 release. It makes one wonder if these large publishers have game theoreticians working on optimum release dates.
- endianswap 15y ago
  There definitely have to be some solid reasons behind this specific release date given the fact that they've been cutting features in the last couple of months to be ready to ship in May (such as PVP). When were their other games launched? I seem to remember StarCraft 2 launching around May/June. (Hopefully unnecessary disclaimer: I work on Guild Wars 2.)
  - politician 15y ago
    SC2 was released early July 2010. D2 was released in late June 2000. WoW and its expansions in successive Christmas seasons. So, yes, I'd say that May 15 is atypically early for Blizzard. Given the online auction house component, they may feel that it's necessary to hook the summer crowd early to maximize returns from that casino. I wouldn't be surprised if this move forced Arena Net to push back to a Thanksgiving release, since people generally don't play two online "collect-em-all" games at once.
- ascendant 15y ago
  WOW is definitely heading into its twilight. If I was a betting man, I'd say MOP is the last expansion they'll put a lot of resources behind before throwing everything at Titan.
fatbat 15y ago
Just from what I noticed though major releases barely nudge the price up for ATVI. :\ At least from what I observed past 2 years or so. (disclosure: I too own ATVI.)

politician 15y ago

I love Blizzard's timing... by setting a date we can surmise that WoW's Free-to-Play model is failing and that May 15 is the latest date that a release-date-averse publisher like Blizzard feels it can still preempt the Guild Wars 2 release. It makes one wonder if these large publishers have game theoreticians working on optimum release dates.

endianswap 15y ago
There definitely have to be some solid reasons behind this specific release date given the fact that they've been cutting features in the last couple of months to be ready to ship in May (such as PVP). When were their other games launched? I seem to remember StarCraft 2 launching around May/June. (Hopefully unnecessary disclaimer: I work on Guild Wars 2.)
- politician 15y ago
  SC2 was released early July 2010. D2 was released in late June 2000. WoW and its expansions in successive Christmas seasons. So, yes, I'd say that May 15 is atypically early for Blizzard. Given the online auction house component, they may feel that it's necessary to hook the summer crowd early to maximize returns from that casino. I wouldn't be surprised if this move forced Arena Net to push back to a Thanksgiving release, since people generally don't play two online "collect-em-all" games at once.
ascendant 15y ago
WOW is definitely heading into its twilight. If I was a betting man, I'd say MOP is the last expansion they'll put a lot of resources behind before throwing everything at Titan.

fatbat 15y ago

Just from what I noticed though major releases barely nudge the price up for ATVI. :\ At least from what I observed past 2 years or so. (disclosure: I too own ATVI.)