Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares plunged on Friday after the video game giant announced that it would be parting ways with famed gaming studio Bungie. Along with this split, Bungie will be taking control of its Destiny game franchise, which has been one of the most successful ever.
Unfortunately, this split comes at a difficult time for Activision, which recently saw some changes to its executive leadership team. And it doesn’t help that Bungie will be retaining the rights to Destiny.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Activision detailed that it does not expect to see any material revenue, operating income or operating loss from the Destiny franchise in 2019. Currently, analysts are calling for revenues of $7.64 billion for the 2019 full year.
The Destiny franchise first launched in September 2014. While Destiny has had a tough go of things through its expansions, patches, updates and a sequel, it still has been wildly popular in the gaming community.
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In a blog post, Bungie said:
We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny. Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie. With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects.
Shares of Activision Blizzard were last seen down about 10% at $46.43, in a 52-week range of $43.71 to $84.68. The consensus price target is $70.81.
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