Vivendi Games earnings see 109% increase
by Jennie Lees 
May 17th 2006 at 6:00PM
According to Next Generation, World of Warcraft is a nice little cash cow for publisher Vivendi. With first-quarter earnings of $30m this year, an increase of 109% from the same period last year, Vivendi's financials have beaten analyst expectations.A report from Vivendi says that "this dramatic improvement was driven by a growth in revenues, with an increased proportion relating to the higher margin of World of Warcraft business". While increased development costs are also cited, it seems clear that a fair amount of the money pouring into Vivendi's pockets is staying there.
While players suffer from server and infrastructure problems, is this entirely fair? Well, publishers don't get into the MMO business to make losses. Without seeing a complete breakdown of where our subscription money is going, we're not placed to judge.
Filed under: Blizzard, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mat May 17th 2006 6:57PM
When you hear about Blizzard making that much money it's hard not to get at least a little annoyed, but then again you have to figure that with how huge WoW has become they're probably having some issues with staffing and being able to support a community so huge. I'm not excusing the problems, I'm just saying that I understand what it's like to work in a fast paced IT department. When you hire new people, depending on the job, the learning curve can last months. If your company is also growing fast it can be hard to keep up.
Scott May 18th 2006 1:35PM
It is highly likely that Vivendi only profits from the initial box sale, and Blizzard takes in all the monthly subscription fee. Vivendi isn't responsible for the back-end - just the creation and distribution of the box the game comes in.