Activision Euro market share increases

Activision has said its share of the European software market grew to over 10 per cent in the last financial quarter.

In a report which also saw revenues surpass $1bn, the firm said it had grown share in Europe by 2.8 points to 10.5 per cent for the quarter, as compared to the same period during the previous calendar year.

Guitar Hero was a key part of that growth, being the number one third-party game across Europe for the first six months of 2009, according to data from GfK-ChartTrack.

Guitar Hero’s European sales for the year to date were also up 66 per cent, and in a conference call to investors, the firm said that the upcoming launch of DJ Hero will help widen its appeal in Europe.

In fact that franchise was also the number one third-party game in the US for the same period.

Activision also said it had grown its share of the US market in the quarter off the back of that.

On the broader trend of market share expansion CEO Bobby Kotick commented: "During a challenging economic climate, Activision Blizzard grew its quarterly North American and European market share 2.8 points across all platforms to 12.7% from 9.9% for the previous year and was the #1 North American third-party console and handheld publisher for the quarter and first six months of the calendar year, according to the NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk."