President and CEO, Bobby Kotick, of Activision opened their E3 webcast by reasserting the claim that the company will reach 1 billion dollars in profit by 2012, due largely to an increase in the worldwide audience for games.  He stated three factors that drive the modern gaming business: innovative new interfaces, the social aspect of gaming, and good value. 

The new head of the Guitar Hero franchise, Dan Rosensweig, stated a current focus is to expand the popularity of the games in Europe and making the hardware “more relevant” in that market.  He also hinted at a new Guitar Hero for the PSP that will be the first to feature drumming on the portable device. 

Other game properties announced include a new Tony Hawk game in 2010 and new games for James Bond, Spider-Man, and Transformers.  There was also mention of a Shrek 4 game, as well as a new action game based on a yet untold original IP.  Call of Duty was said to possibly expand into “related genres” though no specifics were given.  Finally, Mike Morhaime from Blizzard confirmed the expected Starcraft II will launch later this year, but the release date is subject to change.  Perhaps most interestingly, during the Q and A portion, he declined to respond to a question about the Battle.net platform.  Are further releases from Activision Blizzard on the way?  Stay tuned.  

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