Activision "selectively expanding" brands onto iPhone
Activision is probably the biggest gaming company going these days, and in their conference call earlier this week, CEO Bobby Kotick briefly mentioned its foray into the world of the iPhone. We've talked a lot in the past about indie developers and how they find their way on to the App Store, but it's the larger companies that sometimes have a tougher time of it, making larger games that don't always make back their accordingly large development costs, much less make any money. Kotick says that Activision is still a bit leery, but that they will continue "selectively expanding our brands" onto platforms like the iPhone (he basically says that Guitar Hero is coming to Apple's handheld soon), and that the company is looking into Apple's platform more as a brand extension rather than a potential source of financial revenue. Case in point: Blizzard's release of the Mobile Authenticator for their World of Warcraft. They're not planning to release games necessarily, but just other ways for users to connect with the company and its brands.
Not that they can't release successful games -- Activision is also dropping the first downloadable map pack for its very popular World at War: Zombies game (based on the Call of Duty brand). The pack is $5 (on top of the $10 app price, though there is a free version available without the DLC to try), and adds a second map to the game, more than doubling the size of the in-game world, as well as adding more perks, content, and other goodies. Interesting to see the approach that a larger developer is taking with Apple's platform.
