Video game maker Activision Blizzard has smashed third-quarter revenue forecasts by almost 20%, excluding sales of the newly-released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the final three months of 2011, putting it on track to deliver the highest earnings per share in the company's history.
Activision chief executive Robert Kotick said the record results – which saw the company report net revenue of $627m (£390m), up by more than 18% on its guidance of $530m – proved that games are becoming as important as film and television.
Profits, recorded as net income, almost tripled year on year in the third quarter from $51m to $148m.
Activision Blizzard, which is 64% owned by French entertainment and telecoms company Vivendi, raised its full-year forecast for net revenue from $4.05bn to $4.25bn, and earnings per share raised from 77c to 85c.
The company said Modern Warfare 3, which went on sale on Tuesday, has received an unprecedented level of pre-orders, thought to be worth about $650m.
Analysts at Liberum said Activision's performance will almost certainly lead to Vivendi upgrading its earnings guidance when the company reports its third quarter results next week.
Liberum said Activision accounts for 15% of Vivendi's operating profit.
"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," Kotick said.
