A
holiday sales war is shaping up between Activision Blizzard Inc.'s 'Call of Duty' and Electronic Arts Inc.'s 'Battlefield,' two of the videogame industry's fiercest game franchises.
作为视频游戏业最火爆的两个系列游戏,动视暴雪公司(Activision Blizzard Inc.)的《使命召唤》(Call of Duty)和美国艺电公司(Electronic Arts Inc.)的《战地》(Battlefield)之间的假日销售战正在拉开帷幕。
On Tuesday, Activision released the latest
version in its
durable 'Call of Duty' series, 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.' It goes head to head against EA's just-released 'Battlefield 3.'
动视暴雪于11月8日发布了系列游戏《使命召唤》最新版──《使命召唤:现代战争3》(Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3),与艺电刚刚发售的《战地3》(Battlefield 3)展开竞争。
The stakes in this
holiday face-off are high. Activision earns half its
annualrevenue in the year's final quarter. Both have adopted strategies of releasing fewer, better-quality titles each year, said ITG Investment Research analyst Matthew Jacob, forcing each to lean heavily on the new launches.
两家公司为假日销售战投下高额赌注。动视暴雪年收入中有一半来自第四季度。ITG Investment Research研究公司的分析师马修•雅各布(Matthew Jacob)说,两家公司的战略都是每年推出量少质精的游戏,因此都非常依赖新品的推出。
'Call of Duty' has the upper hand, estimates Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. He and other analysts believe the newest
version could collect more than $1
billion in
revenue and become the highest-selling game of all time. The last two games in the series, 'Modern Warfare 2' in 2009 and 'Black Ops' in 2010, set sales records for the week after their release.
韦德布什证券(Wedbush Securities)的分析师迈克尔•帕赫特(Michael Pachter)估计《使命召唤》更有优势。他和其他分析师都认为,最新版《使命召唤》销售收入有望超过10亿美元,成为有史以来销售额最高的游戏。《使命召唤》系列上两个游戏是2009年推出的《现代战争2》(Modern Warfare 2)及2010年推出的《黑暗行动》(Black Ops),这两个游戏在发售当周都创下了销售记录。
Activision on Tuesday reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, with
revenue up 1% to $754 million and profit nearly tripling to $148 million. It raised its
forecast for 2011, predicting sales of $4.33
billion and per-share
earnings of 76 cents. It reported 2010 sales of $4.45
billion and
earnings of 33 cents a share. It didn't provide
initial sales data for 'Modern Warfare 3.'
动视暴雪11月8日发布了好于预期的第三财政季度业绩,当季收入增长1%,达到7.54亿美元,利润增长近两倍,达到1.48亿美元。该公司上调了2011财年业绩预期,预计销售额为43.3亿美元,每股收益为76美分。该公司2010财年销售额为44.5亿美元,每股收益为33美分。该公司未披露《现代战争3》上市之初的销售数据。
'We're going to have record results this year,' said Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick. The firm is investing in mobile gaming and games for social-networks, he said.
动视暴雪首席执行长博比•科蒂克(Bobby Kotick)说,"我们今年的业绩将创纪录。"他说,公司也在投资移动游戏和社交网络游戏。
EA has a more diversified games lineup than its rival, with hits such as the 'Madden' football and 'FIFA' soccer games. But it lacks a blockbuster in the shooting-game
category on the scale of 'Call of Duty' and needs 'Battlefield 3' to
flourish to make inroads in that genre this
holiday season.
艺电的游戏产品比动视暴雪丰富,《劲爆美式足球》(Madden)和足球游戏《FIFA》都是热门产品。但艺电缺少能与《使命召唤》这种重磅产品匹敌的射击类游戏,在今年假日旺季需要凭借《战地3》的热销从该市场抢占一片领地。
In a mark of the intensifying rivalry, EA isn't shying away from ribbing 'Call of Duty' in 'Battlefield' marketing. EA's
campaign features commercials and billboards with the tagline: 'Above and Beyond the Call.'
艺电为《战地》游戏做营销时大胆拿《使命召唤》开涮,显示出双方竞争的加剧。该公司在电视广告和广告牌中打出的宣传口号是:"比预期更精彩" (Above and Beyond the Call, 其中Call为双关语,暗指《使命召唤》,即比《使命召唤》更精彩──译注)。
'We're having some fun,' said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. 'We can't completely
isolate ourselves from the fact that we're
shipping in the same window as 'Call of Duty.''
艺电品牌经理弗兰克•吉博(Frank Gibeau)说,"我们开了些玩笑,《战地》和《使命召唤》摆在同一个橱窗里卖,我们不可能完全无视这个事实。"
Activision has avoided responding to EA's barbs. 'I have
absolutely no
comment on it and could care less about it,' said Eric Hirshberg, head of the publishing unit of Activision, which has launched a 'Call of Duty' marketing blitz with ads featuring actors Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill and basketball star Dwight Howard.
动视暴雪没有回应艺电的挑战。动视暴雪发行部门主管埃里克•希施贝格(Eric Hirshberg)说,"我对此不予置评,更不会在意。"动视暴雪也已经为《使命召唤》展开营销攻势,请萨姆•沃辛顿(Sam Worthington)、乔纳•希尔(Jonah Hill)等演员以及篮球明星德怀特•霍华德(Dwight Howard)出演了一批广告。
The games arrive at a time when videogame sales industrywide could use a little firepower. In September, total U.S. game sales -- including videogame-console
hardware and games -- were $1.16
billion in the year to date, down 6% from $1.23
billion a year earlier, according to market researcher NPD Group.
两个游戏的推出时间正值视频游戏全行业销售旺季。市场研究公司NPD Group的数据显示,今年年初至9月份,美国游戏销售总额(包括视频游戏机硬件和游戏)为11.6亿美元,较上年同期的12.3亿美元下降6%。
Traditional videogame makers such as Activision and EA have seen their revenues stagnate as they struggle to plug into the fast-growing, online social-gaming business that Zynga Inc. has dominated. Zynga, founded in 2007, has filed for an
initialoffering that could value it at $20
billion -- close to the combined market capitalization of Activision and EA.
动视暴雪和艺电等传统视频游戏公司收入停滞不前,它们想努力进入迅速增长的在线社交游戏市场。Zynga Inc.目前是该市场的霸主,这家建于2007年的公司已经提交了首次公开募股申请,该公司市值估计可达200亿美元,接近动视暴雪和艺电的市值总和。
As a result, the videogames industry is
banking on 'Call of Duty' and 'Battlefield' to
reverse its fortunes. Mr. Pachter predicts that games released last month, including 'Battlefield 3' and 'Batman: Arkham City,' could lift October sales by 14% compared with a year earlier.
因此,视频游戏行业要依靠《使命召唤》和《战地》等游戏来扭转颓势。帕赫特预计,上个月推出的《战地3》(Battlefield 3)和《蝙蝠侠:阿甘之城》(Batman: Arkham City)等游戏有望带动该行业10月份销售额同比增长14%。
'Battlefield 3,' which debuted Oct. 25, has had the most successful
launch in EA's 29-year history, said Mr. Gibeau, selling five million copies in its first week.
吉博说,10月25日面市的《战地3》是艺电29年历史上最成功的游戏,上市第一周卖出了500万套。
But 'Call of Duty' is a juggernaut. Activision has said the first-day sales of the last two titles in the
series were five million copies each. While hard-core gamers will buy copies of both, most will stick to just one -- likely 'Call of Duty,' said Wedbush's Mr. Pachter.
但这与《使命召唤》相比是小巫见大巫。动视暴雪称,《使命召唤》系列上两个游戏首日销量均达到500万套。韦德布什证券的帕赫特称,虽然铁杆玩家两个游戏都会买,但是大多数人只会坚持玩一个──可能会是《使命召唤》。
Mr. Gibeau conceded his rival's dominance. 'At no point did I say we're going to take them out this year, but we're going to
compete with them,' he said.
吉博承认竞争对手的市场支配地位。他说,"我从来没说我们今年能战胜他们,但是我们将与他们展开竞争。"
Mr. Hirshberg said Activision's only
competition 'is ourselves' and said that 'Modern Warfare 3' was ahead of last year's record-breaking 'Call of Duty' title by preorders and other metrics. He declined to make unit-sales predictions.
希施贝格说,动视暴雪唯一的竞争"来自我们自己",并称从预订量和其他指标来看,《现代战争3》超过了去年破纪录的《使命召唤》版本。他不愿对销量进行预测。
Analysts say Activision has another
weapon in its 'Elite' service that goes with its game. For $50 a year, 'Call of Duty' players can
access a social
network that keeps track of
statistics like which gun players have the most success with. The 'Elite'
subscription also comes with downloadable maps. EA's 'Battlefield 3' has similar services but doesn't have a
subscription model.
分析人士称,动视暴雪还有另一个武器,这就是游戏附带的"精英"(Elite)服务。《使命召唤》玩家可以用一年50美元的费用,访问一个能记录游戏数据(比如玩家哪把枪打得最成功)的社交网络。注册"精英"服务后还可以下载地图。艺电的《战地3》也有类似服务,但没有使用订阅模式。
Still, some gamers say they plan to open their wallets for both. Maria Ori, a 20-year-old student in
suburban Vancouver, said she plans to give 'Battlefield 3' a shot because she wants to play that game with one of her friends. But Ms. Ori is more excited about playing 'Modern Warfare 3' because she is familiar with the franchise.
不过,有一些玩家说他们计划掏腰包买下两个游戏。加拿大温哥华市郊20岁的学生玛丽亚•奥里(Maria Ori)说,她计划买下《战地3》,因为她想和一个朋友一起玩这个游戏。但让奥里感觉更兴奋的是玩《现代战争3》,因为她熟悉这个游戏。