Record sales and double profits for Activision

Kung Fu Panda and Guitar Hero have helped drive record sales for Activision in its final quarter before merging with Vivendi.

Sales were up 32 per cent to USD 654 million, and profits more than doubled to USD 59 million for the quarter ended June 30.

Sales for the same period in the previous year were USD 495.5 million and profits USD 27.8 million.

"Activision's June quarter stand-alone results were the highest ever for a non-holiday quarter, driven by two new Guitar Hero titles - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: On Tour, Kung Fu Panda and continued sales of our catalogue titles," commented Robert Kotick, CEO.

"Our record performance highlights the continued strength of our business. We are well positioned to continue to capitalise on our strong product portfolio and the positive trends in our industry."

Earlier this week Activision Blizzard announced that it would be dropping a number of recently acquired Sierra franchises from the Activision portfolio, and later the Ludlum estate announced that it had reacquired the Bourne licence from Vivendi.

"We are very excited to add Vivendi Games' multi-million unit selling properties Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro, as well as two new intellectual properties - Prototype and an as yet unannounced title - to our game roster," offered Mike Griffith, president of Activision.

"The combination with Vivendi Games strengthens our holiday slate which is already anchored by three of the top-selling franchises in the industry - Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, James Bond and includes such highly anticipated games as Call of Duty: World at War, Guitar Hero World Tour and Quantum of Solace, as well as Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant and The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon."