Activision's Games

The same market can give companies very different treatments. Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) is enjoying high times in the video game industry — while rival and nemesis Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) is struggling.

Activision plays to a more hard-core gamer crowd than Electronic Arts does. Thirtyone percent of Activision's sales come from "World of Warcraft" and similar multiplayer online games, and the Warcraft franchise is about to be relaunched in mainland China.

Activision is big on hard-boiled action titles like the "Call of Duty" first-person war game franchise and best-selling movie license titles such as "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" or "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." The roomy hard drives in the Xbox 360 and PS3 make for a slick experience downloading extra tracks for the "Guitar Hero" games, which also simply look much better on the higher-powered machines. High-def glory, the Wii ain't. So it's easy to see why the Wii generates only 11 percent of Activision's revenue today.

This fall, Activision releases another update of the "Call of Duty" franchise, another "Tony Hawk" skateboarding game, and not one but three music games in the "Guitar Hero" oeuvre. All of these titles build on proven money-making series and should keep Activision ahead of the competition through the crucial holiday shopping season.