Activision Talks Price Cuts, Motion Control, Digital Distribution

Video game hardware prices are the lowest they've been all generation - of course, they can really only go in one direction - but one publisher still wants to see 'em go cheaper.

Activision Blizzard was one of the publishers who pushed hard for a price drop around this time last year; they were especially concerned with the PlayStation 3. Well, Sony gave the PS3 its $100 price cut last fall and since then, sales have been soaring. However, according to MCVUK, Activision believes that in order for the industry to continue to grow, we're going to need another round of hardware price cuts. Speaking during the company's conference call, president Michael Morhaine cites the current economic condition: "If you look at consoles, I think you are going to need to see hardware price declines given the economic uncertainties that we have," he said. He also recommended to other game makers that they should work with the upcoming motion controllers for both Sony and Microsoft, because that kind of innovation is always crucial. Said Morhaine:

"You are going to need to see product innovations. And as you look at some of the new user interfaces that are coming out, I think those are certainly going to deliver some interesting product innovation."

Then he mentioned digital distribution, which "offers higher margin opportunities" and that "natural growth will occur naturally from expanding demographics." This is all well and good, but calling for another round of console price cuts might be jumping the gun; we just had some price drops late last year. But hey, I guess cheaper is always better, provided we get the same experience.

2/16/2010 10:34:46 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (59 posts)

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Gone
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 10:53:09 AM
Reply

Activision needs to price cut their games if they want sales. I think $299 for a PS3 is a steal.

20 up, 1 down

Danny007
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:40:47 AM

Ya so true. 65 bucks for a game is a rip off, especially if you happen to dislike the game.

Last edited by Danny007 on 2/16/2010 11:41:13 AM

11 up, 1 down

MyWorstNightmar
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:14:24 PM

8ball, you are so right. $299.00 is a steal for all the PS3 does. Wii and XBOX do not play BluRays and never will. So for an extra 100.00 bucks over the compitition, you get a great BluRay player.

This Activision guy makes no sense. All three console makers are still selling consoles like hotcakes, and until that well starts to dry up, THAT is when you talk price cuts.

Is Activision sales hurting? No. Maybe he is just steamed his Guitar Hero Metallica and Aerosmith games didn't sell well and is convinced that it is due to not enough consoles being out there.

12 up, 0 down

Cavan
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:18:54 PM

the more console on the market, the bigger the market for activisions games, simple logic as it wont be activision loosing any money, sony still dont quite make a profit on the ps3, so no they should not have a price drop, if anything this is just activision being selfish lol. they want sony and MS to loose money so they can gain more money.

4 up, 0 down

manofchao5
Saturday, February 20, 2010 @ 11:42:24 AM

until activision makes a console and sells it at a $300 loss i dont wanna hear what they are sayin

2 up, 0 down

Thrill Kill
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:04:49 AM
Reply

activision....hahahahahahahahahah

7 up, 1 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:06:14 AM

Are you laughing at the single biggest fiscal year the company has ever seen...?

Not that I like the company but they're still a publishing dynamo.

6 up, 5 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:14:35 AM

Sadly though, they have good numbers in part because they are "ruthless" when it comes to cost management... many dudes and dudettes are licking their wounds after the brutal closures and downsizing of some of their associate development houses in the past week or so :(

Q!

"i am home"

Last edited by Qubex on 2/16/2010 11:15:23 AM

6 up, 0 down

Thrill Kill
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:21:50 AM

No, I am laughing at their Hypocracy. They have no room to talk and I think it is childish and unprofessional they way they represent themselves and their business.

7 up, 1 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:45:45 AM

Lol... How many times can you button mash a virtual guitar?

Q!

"i am home"

4 up, 0 down

Naztycuts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:28:20 PM

I'm assuming their "biggest fiscal year ever" has MW2 to thank because of the records it broke.
Another price cut? ouch don't they know the console makers have to MAKE money to produce consoles? Where would Activision be if there were no consoles to play their products on?

8 up, 0 down

big6
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:07:37 AM
Reply

I think hardware prices are fine where they are right now. It's GAME PRICES that need to drop!

18 up, 0 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:07:47 AM
Reply

Activision needs it's head read... As mentioned by Sweedie, the PS3 is a pretty good deal as it is and Sony are infact losing on every console being made, albeit a fractional loss from previous levels...

Look, the USAF thought the price of PS3's were so cheap they purchased 3ooo of them for their "super computing" needs.

Q!

"i am home"

Last edited by Qubex on 2/16/2010 11:09:33 AM

4 up, 0 down

Roach721
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 4:41:52 PM

$299.99 is not a bad price but $249.99 is much better, and it will help Sony sell millions more units than it currently is. Activision/Blizzard should lead by example and price drop their software.

Sony already listen to Activision/Blizzard when they suggested a hardware price drop.Now Blizzard should reward us by making Diablo3 and Starcraft2 for the Sony PS3. If not then shut the hell up, and keep your opinions to yourself.

2 up, 0 down

whiskeytango74
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:08:16 AM
Reply

Yes 8 Ball I agree. I dont think 299 is a bad price for a new system at all.i think thats really low. but whats killing me is droping 60 bucks everytime a good game comes out. I dont have the money to be doing that. I had to take money out of my guitar amp savings to get Heavy Rain. If I really plan on getting a new amp that has to stop now

4 up, 0 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:19:37 AM

Whiskeytango... I hear you dude... The cost to us gamers is brutal at the moment, i am biting my tongue trying not to spend too much... It took me months to get Uncharted 2, and have also already missed out on a couple of other titles in order to balance resource needs. Heavy Rain will fall away so that i can purchase GoWIII... It's how the cookie crumbles at the moment... :(

Q!

"i am home"

Last edited by Qubex on 2/16/2010 11:25:26 AM

3 up, 0 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:52:06 AM

No doubt its tough... It has all been fine tuned to extract maximum cash from you. Lest us not forget the stealthy DLC... A few times i have had mi nose prickled by it... I admit i have splurged on the Killzone 2, WoW and MW1 DLC which didn't help my bank account at all.

The renting tract is a tough one because u need to make full use of subscriptions you buy, otherwise what is the point. Then you also have to calculate the potential costs of getting your PS3 repaired should it freak out!

Q!

"i am home"

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:59:10 PM

$60 isn't bad for a game, but to offset sales I think exclusives can carry that price, while Multiplats should debut at 50 or 40 bucks.

2 up, 0 down

Darwin1967
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 2:21:43 PM

@sweedie, I'd be lost w/out my gamefly account. I can try games before I actually buy them (i.e. Heavy Rain, etc) and then decide if I want to drop more dollars. On average, I've not paid more than 43.00 for any new title (I just picked up ACII for about 38.00..with my discount and bonus dollars).

0 up, 0 down

johnld
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 3:05:07 PM

i believe infinity ward didnt put as much effort in their game as they should have. MW2 online was a damn mess.

0 up, 0 down

rossinator_99
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:05:25 PM

@sweedie
i have the blockbuster online for movies. they just added a service for video games for an extra 8 bucks. if you return it to your nearest outlet, it's basically a coupon for a free movie. plus you get a monthly coupon for a free movie or video game. that's where i get all my blu-rays and games.

0 up, 0 down

Deleted User
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:09:21 AM
Reply

??? what games do they make i don't think i have any in my collection ???

1 up, 1 down

bridgera
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:07:24 PM

I own some Ultimate Alliance and Spiderman games, other than that I have nothing of theirs.

Other people have Guitar Hero and Call of Duty....

.... not sure what else they put out.

0 up, 0 down

Thrill Kill
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:11:58 AM
Reply

The xbox might be worth a $100 but the playstation is as inexpensive as it should be for atleast 2 more years. I mean.....it only does everything right? I will never buy activision paraphernalia.

3 up, 1 down

JackC8
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:14:48 AM
Reply

The company that would make their games even more expensive if they could says that the console manufacturers need to cut their prices. What can one even say? How's it going with the sales of your non-functional skateboards and plastic guitars? Not so good?

3 up, 0 down

mexgeo86
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:14:58 AM
Reply

I haven't bought an Activision game since Guitar Hero 3. They need to perhaps come out with something new. I'm not that much into FPS so I skipped on MW2. I chose Infamous over Prototype and after seeing reviews for Tony Hawk ride all that I can think of from Activision last year is the handful of Guitar Hero titles and DJ Hero which I hear is good but it doesn't draw my attention.

We'll see how it goes with Blur but other than that, they have nothing I want at the moment.

2 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:24:53 AM

"I chose Infamous over Prototype"

Best decision you made in 2009.

9 up, 1 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:23:55 AM
Reply

Goodness im so sick and tired of Craptivision.

Stop charging $200+ for a freakin music game then ill take you seriously morons.

5 up, 2 down

Qubex
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:55:30 AM

You must admit though Jawknee, deep deep deep down you have some affinity toward them, right?

...or am I wrong? :)

Q!

"i am home"

Last edited by Qubex on 2/16/2010 11:56:12 AM

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:36:30 PM

Wrong. ;)

4 up, 0 down

gumbi
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:00:59 PM
Reply

Why? So you can try to justify increasing your game prices? $299 for a PS3 is an amazing price. It's competitive with other consoles AND stand alone BR players, but it does both!

Correct me if I'm wrong Ben, but didn't you have an article a little while ago with a quote from these guys saying they want to raise game prices? or was that someone else?

Screw these guys. "Yeah, we'd like you to incur heavier losses so we can make more profit off you're hardware, yeah that sounds good"

7 up, 1 down

Brklynty1
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:03:06 PM
Reply

I agree with everyone saying that games are to expensive. I remember last gen I'd sometimes get 3 games a month. 2 in one day if my dad was feeling great. Now I only have Uncharted 2 and my cousin's Batman(well I didn't have my PS3 for long so.) I've been itching to get a new game. And gamestop doesn't make it any better either. Somebody care to explain why AC1 is 14.99 used for 360 and 24.99 for PS3 used? But then again this is all because of piracy.

Believe it or not developers are forced to raise the prices because of it. But I'd say maybe next year games will drop back to $50. As for Activision, how the hell can you compalin about dropping prices when your a**hole ceo wants to raise them? Your contradicting your ownself. I bet they put a lot of effort in to TH:Ride and look your highest score was a 5.75. How's about doing new stuff and stop relying on GH and CoD. God knows MW saved your company.

2 up, 1 down

johnld
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 3:09:15 PM

if you can wait a month, best buy usually drops new release games to 40 bucks. Thats what im waiting for now since i cant afford every game at launch.

0 up, 0 down

bridgera
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:05:41 PM
Reply

Hey Activision,

a) expensive electronics prices ALWAYS fall after a few years as manufacturing costs are reduced.

b) it's really easy for your company to demand more of a loss/console from another company. How about you guys pickup the slack and payoff Sony and MS for the amount of dollars they loose/console?

c) How about dropping the price of your new release games from $60 to $30?

Or just SHUT UP, and make better games if you want more sales.

6 up, 1 down

Highlander
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:09:44 PM
Reply

Hang on a minute. How much did the fine folks at Activision charge for their Guitar Hero bundle - the one with the large lump-o-plastic controller? This bunch still has the cheek to demand further price cuts? I havea feeling that they won't be satisfied until the console costs less than the games. It's utterly ridiculous of a group that charges a premium for it's rather ordinary games to expect a company that is still losing money on every sale of a console to cut the price further.

I'm sick of this something for nothing mentality that Activision display and demand from others.

5 up, 1 down

tridon
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:40:58 PM
Reply

God... Activision cracks me up to the point that it hurts. Crying about sales because systems are too high when their last CoD game sold bazillions of copies (and it wasn't even that great).

Hey, Acti-peeps, here's a thought...
Maybe the problem isn't the fact that the PS3 costs $299. Maybe the problem is that each one of your $60 games comes with a $100 peripheral these days. And that peripheral is usually a useless piece of junk. Try working on that problem and then come and let us know if your sales have risen at all.

3 up, 1 down

tridon
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 12:45:00 PM

Oh, and BTW, I don't think games are that expensive. Then again, there's only a certain number of games that I still buy at launch when they cost $60-$70. Most days, I just wait a few months until I can get that game for $20-$30. For the most part, I'm paying the same amount for my games today that I spent when I bought my first Playstation. To this day, I still remember going to K-Mart and seeing Doom 64 for the Nintendo 64 for $119.99. Now THAT was expensive!!!

3 up, 0 down

Deathb4Dishonor
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:06:49 PM
Reply

you kno its funny bc around summer of last year he was talking about if it was up to him he'd sell the guitar hero games and bundles for way more and now he's talking about other companies dropping prices... what a hipocritical a**hole

Last edited by Deathb4Dishonor on 2/16/2010 1:08:12 PM

2 up, 0 down

tridon
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:12:43 PM
Reply

Why am I getting the feeling that Bobby Kotick has signed on and is giving a thumbs down to all the thumbs-up-worthy comments?

4 up, 0 down

Bugzbunny109
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:30:57 PM
Reply

Why can't Activision just shut up? They have this remarkable ability to constantly run their mouths...

3 up, 0 down

mike rlz
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:36:51 PM
Reply

i laugh at activision when they had their biggest fiscal year and still say they need to grow. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

1 up, 0 down

Brklynty1
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:47:31 PM
Reply

Like seriously, how can Activision talk about lowering prices. All 3 consoles cut their price last year and they want another? cutting the price of a console aint gonna help you sell your games Bobby. A console is a one time purchase(well like 3-5 times if your referring to that traffic light console),lowering the prices on your games will help you sell games. and WTF? didnt you guys just garnish like idk 500 million on mw2 alone?(60 x like 5 million copies idk) what the hell could they be complaining about.

Then go ahead and blame low sales on the PS2. No blame low sales on your crap games like Ride and Guitar Hero: Modern Bull****

Last edited by Brklynty1 on 2/16/2010 1:49:37 PM

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 2:01:52 PM

"A console is a one time purchase"... well unless you buy a 360.

8 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 1:57:48 PM
Reply

Activision's stupid peripherals need the price drop. Not that I'd want one.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/16/2010 1:57:57 PM

2 up, 0 down

Darwin1967
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 2:25:37 PM
Reply

I wish the world would issue a gag order against Activision. Every time they open their mouths its like fingers on a chalkboard. 60.00 for a game, then additional DLC for which they charge 10.00 (which merely "unlocks" what is already on the disc)...and they still aren't satisified. Everyone, it would seem, should take a pay cut, except for them. Perhaps their bonus checks were a little thin..This company should seriously consider becoming a bank..they'd fit right in.

2 up, 0 down

johnld
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 3:01:58 PM
Reply

This is coming from a company whos boss wants to charge more for their games, right........

0 up, 0 down

Kowhoho
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 3:10:40 PM
Reply

Wow. This is embarassing! Everyone knows that all the consoles will recieve price cuts once it is a profitable decision. It's a question of when, not if. Then you see Activition, pompous and arrogant as usual, popping up to tell the console makers what to do as if it were their place to do so! Reprehensible.

2 up, 0 down

godsman
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 7:14:57 PM
Reply

Why is activision complaining about the hardware prices when Activision itself is selling the most expensive games this gen? Look at those MW2 games with goggles and the guitar/band hero peripherals. First cut your games, don't blame the hardwares for not selling as much as you had hoped.

2 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 9:29:17 PM
Reply

I never played MW or MW2 or WaW or GH etc.

Only Activision games I played are Ultimate Alliance and Spiderman. All which I pirated because these kind of game really not worth throwing $20 and above.

Last edited by Snaaaake on 2/16/2010 9:29:44 PM

0 up, 1 down

BikerSaint
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 10:24:53 PM
Reply

Hey Anti-vision,
a true leader leads by his own example, so.....

"Drop your own prices....or shut the F*CK UP"!

2 up, 0 down

rossinator_99
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:07:15 PM
Reply

sorry... just felt that was very important...

0 up, 0 down

Robochic
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 @ 11:54:36 PM
Reply

Its defently not a price cut for hardware that is needed, all 3 consoles are at great prices. Activision charges way to much for their games and then ontop of that charges DLC that could of been in the game or music that could be way cheaper for DLC. Before they say the HW needs a price cut they need to look at their own prices before commenting on Hardware prices. Greedy Greedy.

0 up, 0 down

Nlayer
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 12:22:41 AM
Reply

I would like to see the actual Video Games go down in cost, only I fear that would be a bad thing. If the Video Games were less money, then we would likely end up seeing games with less content attached and more DLC releases.

0 up, 0 down

___________
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 1:14:50 AM
Reply

neither of them i want, and more importantly neither of them will happen soon.
price cut?
are you serious?
for their games?
cant see that happening, till bobby gets fired as CEO.

motion controllers?
well as i said yesterday can you imagine playing dantes inferno only by motion?
your arm would be dead in 2 minutes.

DD?
no, just no.
it took me 6 hours to download the heavy rain demo which was 1.8GBs if memory serves me.
ok so if it takes 6 hours to download under 2GBs of data, imagine how long it would take to download a full ps3 game which are normally 20-25GBs.
or MGS4 which is a full 50GBs.
hmmmmmmmmmmm, hard decision!
go to the store and buy the game and be back in the space of 20 minutes.
or spend 1 day downloading it.
hmmmmmmmmm, decisions, decisions!

closest were going to get to DD for a long time is onlive.
but i have heard some very bad things about it, allot of people are experiencing lots of lag and other issues.
not to mention ive heard 1 hour of gameplay uses up 2GBs of bandwidth.
12.5 hours of gameplay and thats it my download usage is gone!
no surfing the web, no downloading music, programs, videos.
no thanks! i think ill stick to my optical drive.

0 up, 0 down

D1g1tal5torm
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 4:54:20 AM
Reply

I think even though they're a big studio, activision is losing it's clout to influence consoles.

Activision in particular need new IP.

They need to concentrate on their own affairs, rather than trying to increase sales by making the harware cheaper.

They're getting stale and the gaming community recognises it.

0 up, 0 down

Milonakis
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 9:22:43 AM
Reply

This coming from the guys who say games should be more than 60 dollars. I think games need price cuts in uncertain economic times.

0 up, 0 down

G8GTdriver
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 9:25:17 AM
Reply

I have to assume his motives for wanting consoles to drop in price is more sales for Activision. Maybe he should take a look in the mirror, drop game prices $10 and he'll see an uptick in sales. Drop his accessory prices and he'll see a sales increase. Spend some more time on the PS3 version of games instead of porting it over and maybe they'd see more PS3 sales.

The current console prices got his company the highest sales its ever seen, sounds like the prices were right to me.

0 up, 0 down

FullmetalX10
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 1:43:22 PM
Reply

I really don't think Sony needs to drop the PS3's price, they still need to make money on the thing, it dropped 100 bucks a couple of months ago, why make another price cut this soon, the sales still have momentum anyway and with the upcoming exclusives those sales will probably ascend.
And as WorldEndsWithMe said, the prices of multiplats should go down, since they are mostly inferior to the exclusives. I really don't mind paying 60 bucks for an exclusive, since I know I'll be satisfied, though with multiplats, I don't.

0 up, 0 down

kraygen
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 11:55:38 PM
Reply

I gotta say i agree with Ben that even though some of us might not like activision, they still are one of the highest selling game makers out there. Although after some of my recent purchases from them i'm a hairs breath from vowing to never buy another activision game ever again. Last couple of games i bought from them were a rip off with only a sampling of what the games should have been. Along with their demands to sony to lower the ps3 price, which was ridiculous, they have been throwing gamestop all kinds of ridiculous presale deals and then backing out of said deals at the last minute in order to get lots of preorders without actually providing the promised incentive. Activision is a power hungry gaming company who thinks they are the god of the gaming world, strike them down, stop buying their games. Of all the nerve, they might as well tell ferrari that they have to sell their cars for the same price as a chevy cavalier. Activision is always making ridiculous claims and demands and i for one am sick of them.

0 up, 0 down

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