Expect another strong quarter for Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc. with the Aug. 30 release of “World of Warcraft: Legion,” the sixth expansion set of the franchise role-playing game.
Preorders in the recently ended quarter helped boost Blizzard’s revenue to $738 million, up 92% from a year earlier. The game, which has largely been cheered by critics, played a role in driving record quarterly sales of $1.5 billion for Santa Monica parent Activision Blizzard Inc.
Legion has been launched in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, China and Korea, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. It costs $50 for a standard edition and features a new Demon Hunter hero class, artifact weapons, continent, honor system and world quests. The digital deluxe edition goes for $70 and includes in-game bonuses for several Blizzard games. A collector’s edition available at retail includes the digital bonuses, hardcover art book, CD soundtrack, branded mouse pad and a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray/DVD set, all for $90.
Legion should help Blizzard regain some of the more than 4.5 million WoW subscribers it’s lost since late 2014. Gamers pay about $15 per month to play online with friends and foes across the globe.
The company stopped disclosing WoW subscription figures about a year ago when it had about 5.5 million players. Its last quarterly report said WoW was still the top subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game in the world.
Engagement also should get a boost from a recent partnership with Facebook Inc. that aims to connect millions of gamers.
A New Door Opens
The aftermath of mounting local job losses in the wave of consolidation is creating opportunities for some affected workers.
Irvine-based Lantronix Inc.’s (see page 1 story) new chief executive, Jeff Benck, can attest to that. He was hired in late December, recommended by directors Paul Folino and Bruce Edwards, who held board positions at Emulex Corp. during Benck’s seven-year run there.
The Costa Mesa-based networking equipment maker was sold last year for $660 million to Singapore-based Avago Technologies Ltd.
“That may give you hint as to how I got here,” Benck told the Business Journal. “They played a key role.”
Ex-Ingram Exec Lands
Speaking of moving on, former Ingram Micro Inc. executive David Lenz is poised to take the top post at Hills Ltd., a Sydney-based maker of electronics and equipment.
The chief operating officer at Hills left Ingram last year after a six-year stint as director, senior director and general manager of the enterprise technology group for the Australia region.
Ingram, the world’s largest technology products distributor with annual sales of $43 billion, is set to be acquired for $6 billion by Chinese conglomerate Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co.
Hills is in the midst of a turnaround after several years of losses. It posted revenue of about $320 million in the 12 months through June, the end of its fiscal year, down 25.3% from a year earlier.
