Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief Executive Robert Kotick sold 1.73 million shares, or a third of his holdings in the Santa Monica-based video game publisher. The sale totaled $59.2 million.

Top 10 video games of 2011* (publisher) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard) Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft Entertainment) Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks) Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts) Madden NFL 12 (Electronic Arts) Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard) Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros. Interactive) Gears of War 3 (Microsoft) Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft Entertainment) Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft Entertainment)

Activision Blizzard Inc. must turn over computer code used to develop its disc jockey game because a California judge ruled it belonged to Scratch DJ Game, Scratch DJ said. Scratch DJ Game won the order issued by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant in Los Angeles preventing California 7 Studios, a unit of Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard, from disclosing or discussing the code, Scratch DJ said. California 7 Studios was hired by Scratch DJ to develop the game, according to a court filing.

Activision Inc. posted fiscal first-quarter sales of about $650 million, exceeding forecasts the company made before completing its merger with Vivendi's online games division last week. Net income totaled 16 cents to 18 cents a share, including 5 cents in merger and stock-based pay costs, the new company, Activision Blizzard Inc., said in a preliminary statement for the period ended June 30. The Santa Monica company had forecast 4 cents in profit on sales of $500 million on a stand-alone basis.

Activision Blizzard Inc. has raised its financial projections for the year, based largely on the strength of a single game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. But a sharp drop in subscribers for the game publisher's other marquee title, World of Warcraft, knocked the wind out of the company's stock. The Santa Monica company announced Tuesday that subscribers for its World of Warcraft online game had fallen to 10.3 million from 11.4 million at the end of March. "The magnitude of the decline was surprising," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.

A day before a bitterly contested set of lawsuits was set to begin trial, Activision Blizzard Inc. on Thursday settled the case with the original creators of its blockbuster Call of Duty game franchise. The last-minute agreement ends two years of acrimonious litigation that ensued after the Santa Monica game publisher fired Jason West and Vincent Zampella, developers of the multibillion-dollar shooter franchise. West and Zampella sued Activision after they were let go in March 2010, claiming wrongful termination.

Activision Blizzard Inc. acquired Budcat Creations, the developer of games for Wii consoles that's helping the company with its new Guitar Hero title. Budcat, based in Iowa City, Iowa, has worked on several versions of Guitar Hero, Santa Monica-based Activision said. Terms weren't disclosed. The acquisition strengthens Activision's ability to develop games for Nintendo Co.'s Wii and hand-held DS player. Budcat, now a unit of Activision, will stay in Iowa City with its management team intact.

Activision Blizzard Inc. sold a record 4.7 million copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on its first day in North America and Britain, taking in $310 million. The title, released Tuesday worldwide, was available at 10,000 retail locations in the U.S., the company said. The results topped the first-day sales record held by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold 3.6 million copies globally for $310 million last year.