Business

Activision makes $1B in ‘Call of Duty’ sales, outlook still blurry

Shares in Activision Blizzard, the video-game publisher that bought out most of Vivendi SA’s controlling stake, were off 2.3 percent in after-hours trading after its outlook for the fourth quarter fell short of expectations.

The “Call of Duty: Ghosts” maker blew past analysts’ profit estimates for the third quarter. They were 8 cents a share, excluding items, exceeding the 4-cent average of analysts’ estimates. Adjusted revenue of $657 million topped analysts’ projections of $593.4 million.

Sales and profit, down from a year ago, highlight efforts by Activision and the industry to cope with a two-year drop in spending on traditional video games as more people play on mobile devices.

The company released new versions of the shooter title “Call of Duty” and “Skylanders,” which joins a video game with collectible toys, for the holidays while awaiting new consoles due this year from Microsoft and Sony.

The profit outlook for this quarter, Activision’s biggest, is 72 cents a share, excluding items. That’s less than the prior forecast of 76 cents to 79 cents and analysts’ estimates of 78 cents.

Separately, “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” a gritty military-themed shooter game, surpassed $1 billion in global sales a day after its launch on Tuesday.