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Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) will delay releasing its new "Singularity" shooting game until 2010, the company said amid speculation it will push back the release of another potential top-selling videogame.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., now plans to release "Singularity" in the first calendar quarter next year, instead of September. Activision's reason is that it doesn't want to provide any unnecessary competition for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," the highly anticipated Activision game available at around the same time that "Singularity" was to be released.
Separately, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia sees Activision delaying the release of "Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty," due in October and expected to sell around three million copies. The launch of an early version of the game was delayed, making it "increasingly appear" the general release date also will get pushed back to 2010, Bhatia said.
An Activision spokesman had no comment on any potential delay of "Starcraft."
The cumulative effect of the "Singularity" delay and a rumored pushback of "Starcraft" may be a positive for Activision, even though it could be removing two potential top-selling games from its all-important holiday shopping-season slate, analysts said.
Whatever Activision may lose by not selling "Singularity" in September will be more than made up for by sales of "Call of Duty" and Activision's "Prototype" game, which was released June 9 and is tracking better than expected, analysts said.
"Despite the delay, Activision maintains the best second-half release date," said Jess Lubert, a Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2009 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)
Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey says that despite the promise of holiday success for games like DJ Hero and Tony Hawk: Ride, Activision's year end could see some snags -- chief among them the increasing likelihood that Starcraft II won't make this calendar year.
Gotta say I saw this coming. The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off, the beta is said to be 4-6 months long and it hasn't even started -- and there are no signs of it starting any time in the near future. Obviously Activision Blizzard isn't going to announce the delay as that would piss off shareholders and ruin their quarter. So it looks like we have a lot of waiting to do.
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Yeah, since the beta might not start for another few weeks even, I cannot see it being released in time for Christmas.
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Sad indeed, but the delay gives me more time to upgrade my PC...
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Yeah.. I've been thinking it's too late for a '09 release since we didn't get the beta at the end of June/Start of July. Blizzard is not going to let the process get rushed. And I appreciate it.
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Don't see how anyone can be surprised at this. Everything about the game screamed 2010, so I'm not at all disappointed by this. In fact, I'm actually pleased since I would hate to see Blizzard rush a 2009 date for the sake of some extra Christmas sales.
Even if this is fake, I'm still expecting a 2010 release.
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Analysts...I worked at a hedge fund before you have a better chance believing what Blizzard's been saying. Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal is not the best financial paper either...thanks for sharing this!
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while its possible it will be pushed back, How credible is this source?
It looks like some crappy "analyst" just said "Well, we know no inside info, but since its Blizzard, lets just make a "breaking news" post that we confirmed it will be delayed into 2010, with no actual facts to back it up, in hoping it will give our website some publicity"..
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On July 10 2009 10:28 sky_slasher wrote:
"analysts"? Just one analyst from no-name firm...I used to work at a hedge fund some of these analysts you have a better chance believing what the company's been saying. Wall Street Journal is not the best financial paper either...thanks for sharing this!
*cough*
2 analysts from fairly well-respected firms.
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Not to mention, the OP posted a huge troll response at the end of this "news".. saying "The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off" - BULLSHIT. while its no BW balance, it is far far along, Everything is about 90% ready for beta, which means all the models ARE up to par, fundamentals ARE finished, its just balance which takes years (BW took 5+ years.)
TROLL post.. screw him and his bullshit "analysts".. how do they know anything about whats going on inside blizzard?
/ban SWOLE
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Science has already shown that beta will be out on the 17th...so a 2009 release doesn't seem out of the question just yet.
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On July 10 2009 10:33 Skyze wrote:
Not to mention, the OP posted a huge troll response at the end of this "news".. saying "The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off" - BULLSHIT. while its no BW balance, it is far far along, Everything is about 90% ready for beta, which means all the models ARE up to par, fundamentals ARE finished, its just balance which takes years (BW took 5+ years.)
TROLL post.. screw him and his bullshit "analysts".. how do they know anything about whats going on inside blizzard?
/ban SWOLE
Go outside and stop being such a huge raging nerd over a news thread.
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Stop posting SC2 threads from websites that have NO FACTS or CONFIRMATION, or rather any bullshit thread. Go on SC2GD if you wanna post that shit. TL is for ACTUAL fact posts, thats why theres such a high banrate here.
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who cares when the game comes out, all I care about is when the beta will start
baby steps
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On July 10 2009 10:41 Skyze wrote:
Stop posting SC2 threads from websites that have NO FACTS or CONFIRMATION, or rather any bullshit thread. Go on SC2GD if you wanna post that shit. TL is for ACTUAL fact posts, thats why theres such a high banrate here.
You spend way too much time getting angry over trivial shit on the internet. I posted an opinion to give the OP a little more content than just a news repost. You are entitled to disagree with me -- but playing backseat moderator and calling me a troll for having a dissenting opinion is pretty childish.
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i didnt even know sc2 was due for october
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On July 10 2009 10:33 Skyze wrote:
Not to mention, the OP posted a huge troll response at the end of this "news".. saying "The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off" - BULLSHIT. while its no BW balance, it is far far along, Everything is about 90% ready for beta, which means all the models ARE up to par, fundamentals ARE finished, its just balance which takes years (BW took 5+ years.)
TROLL post.. screw him and his bullshit "analysts".. how do they know anything about whats going on inside blizzard?
/ban SWOLE
Wow, calm down. He may not be 100% right about the balance or models etc., but there is definitely some truth that all of those need to be worked on. Also, it's not surprising that it will be pushed back as the beta will take months and hasn't even started yet.
The only troll I see in this thread is you. Try to keep a civil tongue when talking to others or get out.
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It's not like SC is a bad game we have to play while we're stuck waiting. I'm all for more delays as I still enjoy SC.
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The most obvious thing to see knowing that whoever wrote this article/"analysts" are horribly uninformed, is saying the projected release date was October.. Since when did Blizzard ever say October was the release date? Never, it was projected late Q4, which is late November/december.
fail.
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It doesn't matter if the source is credible because it comes down to that there flat out isn't enough time left in the year (This is assuming a 4 month beta which could be longer) for a release this year. The beta needed to have started earlier for a chance of a release this year and we all know that it hasn't and there isn't any signs of it happening any time in the next week or 2.
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On July 10 2009 10:18 sGa.Mac wrote:
Sad indeed, but the delay gives me more time to upgrade my PC...
This.
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
Well they said they want a 4-6 month beta so i guess a delay into early 2010 is reasonable. Anyone with industry experience know how long it takes to go from end of beta to gold->>print a billion disks? Mora?
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ESPORTS
in 7 days mothafuckers!!!11
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On July 10 2009 11:13 Kennigit wrote:
Well they said they want a 4-6 month beta so i guess a delay into early 2010 is reasonable. Anyone with industry experience know how long it takes to go from end of beta to gold->>print a billion disks? Mora?
I don't work in the industry, but most Blizzard games in the past usually take 3-4 weeks after going gold to being released in stores.
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Osaka27154 Posts
Hey SWOLE, calling people "raging nerds" just feeds a stereotype that does not need to be perpetuated.
Hey Skyze, you don't need to call for a ban when someone makes a thread. If you don't like it, discuss, don't just call bullshit and ban at the drop of a hat.
I can't imagine this game out before the end of the year. I think the scope of the game and infrastructure needed is exponentially greater than they originally imagined.
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Im not surprised to hear this as I was already thinking an '09 release had slim chances due to time constraints.
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I actually want a later release so Blizzard has more time to iron out kinks.
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On July 10 2009 12:00 Retsukage wrote:
"soon"
"very soon" actually.
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Duke Nukem For...StarCraft Gho...wha...
I hope they put DX11 Support eventually if it's really like next year thing. DX10 was a mostly bust anyways. and 11 is coming in Sept? of this year.
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On July 10 2009 12:12 ManWithCheese wrote:"very soon" actually.
I thought they said "very very soon." seriously 
And that was like 2 and a half weeks ago, so we should probably throw another "very" in for good measure >.<
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On July 10 2009 10:28 sky_slasher wrote:
Analysts...I worked at a hedge fund before you have a better chance believing what the company's been saying. Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal is not the best financial paper either...thanks for sharing this!
Did the hedge fund manager share your inability to write in a coherent manner?
i does physics at research departmant at MIT
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Now<--------------Very Soon--------Soon--------------->End of Time
anywho this is unsubstantiated and the amount of bad threads lately might ruffle some feathers, but you do not need to call for the ban hammer unless he did something obscenely stupid, and even then it is simply a better idea to pm a mod and ask that such and such user's posts be reviewed, and let them handle the situation.
It is preferable to release it pre-Christmas for obvious reasons, but blizzard will "release it when it's ready" so at least look forward to the beta release sometime in the next moth or two.
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On July 10 2009 10:06 SWOLE wrote:Show nested quote +Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) will delay releasing its new "Singularity" shooting game until 2010, the company said amid speculation it will push back the release of another potential top-selling videogame.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., now plans to release "Singularity" in the first calendar quarter next year, instead of September. Activision's reason is that it doesn't want to provide any unnecessary competition for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," the highly anticipated Activision game available at around the same time that "Singularity" was to be released.
Separately, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia sees Activision delaying the release of "Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty," due in October and expected to sell around three million copies. The launch of an early version of the game was delayed, making it "increasingly appear" the general release date also will get pushed back to 2010, Bhatia said.
An Activision spokesman had no comment on any potential delay of "Starcraft."
The cumulative effect of the "Singularity" delay and a rumored pushback of "Starcraft" may be a positive for Activision, even though it could be removing two potential top-selling games from its all-important holiday shopping-season slate, analysts said.
Whatever Activision may lose by not selling "Singularity" in September will be more than made up for by sales of "Call of Duty" and Activision's "Prototype" game, which was released June 9 and is tracking better than expected, analysts said.
"Despite the delay, Activision maintains the best second-half release date," said Jess Lubert, a Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2009 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)
Show nested quote +
Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey says that despite the promise of holiday success for games like DJ Hero and Tony Hawk: Ride, Activision's year end could see some snags -- chief among them the increasing likelihood that Starcraft II won't make this calendar year.
Gotta say I saw this coming. The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off, the beta is said to be 4-6 months long and it hasn't even started -- and there are no signs of it starting any time in the near future. Obviously Activision Blizzard isn't going to announce the delay as that would piss off shareholders and ruin their quarter. So it looks like we have a lot of waiting to do.
LOL WTF? Your post has no relation to the article whatsoever. They are making purely business speculations and you start talking about the game not being polished enough.
Blizzard won't need to delay the game, it will most likely be out holidays 2009. That's the best time for them to release it.
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Well the more work blizz puts into balancing issues just makes the game more complete on release. The 1st game was not balanced for a while after release and a lot had to do with people just playing it so issues arose with mass playing. The more work they can get now the earlier it can become an esport after release. I thnk Blizz wants it as balanced as possible at release so they can push the competitive aspect sooner, rather then later.
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On July 10 2009 11:13 Kennigit wrote:
Well they said they want a 4-6 month beta so i guess a delay into early 2010 is reasonable. Anyone with industry experience know how long it takes to go from end of beta to gold->>print a billion disks? Mora?
They'll ship the game while the beta is still running so there won't be much time between end of beta and the start of release. There will be a few days to wipe the databases, restart everything, etc. to make sure the launch goes smoothly, but that's it.
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cue the Activlizzard theme song.
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On July 10 2009 10:06 SWOLE wrote:Show nested quote +Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) will delay releasing its new "Singularity" shooting game until 2010, the company said amid speculation it will push back the release of another potential top-selling videogame.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., now plans to release "Singularity" in the first calendar quarter next year, instead of September. Activision's reason is that it doesn't want to provide any unnecessary competition for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," the highly anticipated Activision game available at around the same time that "Singularity" was to be released.
Separately, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia sees Activision delaying the release of "Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty," due in October and expected to sell around three million copies. The launch of an early version of the game was delayed, making it "increasingly appear" the general release date also will get pushed back to 2010, Bhatia said.
An Activision spokesman had no comment on any potential delay of "Starcraft."
The cumulative effect of the "Singularity" delay and a rumored pushback of "Starcraft" may be a positive for Activision, even though it could be removing two potential top-selling games from its all-important holiday shopping-season slate, analysts said.
Whatever Activision may lose by not selling "Singularity" in September will be more than made up for by sales of "Call of Duty" and Activision's "Prototype" game, which was released June 9 and is tracking better than expected, analysts said.
"Despite the delay, Activision maintains the best second-half release date," said Jess Lubert, a Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2009 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)
Show nested quote +
Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey says that despite the promise of holiday success for games like DJ Hero and Tony Hawk: Ride, Activision's year end could see some snags -- chief among them the increasing likelihood that Starcraft II won't make this calendar year.
Gotta say I saw this coming. The game is just a mess right now and the fundamentals just aren't there yet. The models aren't up to par, the balance is way off, the beta is said to be 4-6 months long and it hasn't even started -- and there are no signs of it starting any time in the near future. Obviously Activision Blizzard isn't going to announce the delay as that would piss off shareholders and ruin their quarter. So it looks like we have a lot of waiting to do.
Sorry, but i agree completely to Skyze
This I blanked is bullshit
You are talking of a game that is not even in beta yet
Its a mess? Obviously, Why do you think its not in beta yet? And its better than a lot of games out there.
The models arent up to par? You gotta be kidding, just few things need to be really improved
Balance way off? GEE, ITS A GAME NOT EVEN IN BETA YET, PPL JUST DONT GET TIRED?
It would be a much better OP if you had not write that nonsense. Thats a good news (although i dont believe in it).
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This thread is going to do nothing but get everyone worked up over nothing.
I honestly didn't think it would be coming out this year anyways lol
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On July 10 2009 12:28 s_side wrote:Show nested quote +On July 10 2009 10:28 sky_slasher wrote:
Analysts...I worked at a hedge fund before you have a better chance believing what the company's been saying. Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal is not the best financial paper either...thanks for sharing this! Did the hedge fund manager share your inability to write in a coherent manner?
i does physics at research departmant at MIT
No, his writing was good. I don't think much when writing a comment as I do when posting a thread. Physics at MIT. Good stuff!
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The bad sentiment comes from the fact that SWOLE pretends the game to be in a completely wrecked state like a 5 year old programmed it or something. Everyone that played it at the press conference sure seemed to like the game and had fun and furthermore, its senseless to get wishy washy trying to let them figure out balance, because no matter how close they think they'll get it, someone will find an exploit and balance changes again.
Sources are also retarded, you belong to this or that place and you're automatically a genius? Really? Institutionalized bullshit, the article does show it has little basis on things and is just speculation. Can Blizzard very easily push things back? Sure, but is a beta this summer and release this winter unreasonable? No.
Also one final thing to consider is that I'd be fine with them having no more than a 5 month beta because quite frankly if you guys wanna try for a perfectly balanced release, the thing is gonna be like a 2 year beta at least. I.e. they're going to release without it being perfect because realistically you could extend beta for months and months and never get anywhere. Like I said, wish washy expectations.
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Some of you guys really need to chill out. Nowhere did I say the game is ruined. I say it doesn't look very good in it's current state and needs work. Nothing that I wrote merits flaming me and acting like I should be banned from these forums for having the wrong opinion. I am confident that the game will turn out well, and am glad that it is being delayed, as that means these problems can be addressed.
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I think the time constraint isn't a problem. LK wasn't out at this time last year and still made a late Nov release
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
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EPT
