Shooters are popular over in China, but some brands are less well known over there than over here. Call of Duty also seems like a natural candidate to turn into a subscription based service, given its popularity over in the West.
Therein lies the rub for Activision, since it already has a partnership with Chinese company NetEase. Bringing out an MMO with the Call of Duty label in China could be just the combination needed to launch the brand over in the Asian Pacific region.
“We expect the Company could extend their relationship with Activision Blizzard, by establishing an additional license to operate Call of Duty Online in China and Blizzard’s unannounced MMO, which will likely leverage their battle.net platform. The eventuality of COD in China could bring an additional +$50 to +$100 million in sales and +$0.15 to +$0.30 in EPS in its first year of operation,” wrote Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey. “We believe the regulatory authorities will approve the last World of Warcraft expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King, potentially driving active paying accounts to over +10 million.”
Hickey also noted that the Chinese market still has quite a bit of room to grow. “Despite the rapid growth of the online game market in China, now roughly $4 billion, it s only 40 percent the size of the U.S. video game software market and less than 20 percent of the total U.S. game market; suggesting additional room for meaningful expansion.
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
