“World of 
Warcraft” creator Blizzard Entertainment, which had been immune from broad staff cuts throughout its 20-plus-year existence, announced plans Wednesday to slash 600 positions from its payroll.
Roughly 60 of those jobs will be game developers, with the rest coming from other divisions. While the company did not specify precisely where it will trim the extra workers, industry observers expect the majority to come from the customer-service unit.
You know 
a game is a hit when it sells on eBay for higher than its retail price. You know it’s a smash when pieces of that game are commanding premium pricing on the auction site. But when six of those pieces sell for well over $1,000? That’s when you’ve officially got a monster on your hands.
Activision is in that fortunate position as six Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure figures in the U.K. have sold for £797, roughly $1,260. And the winner will have to toss in another $50 or so for shipping.
It’s a three-peat.
Modern Warfare 3, the latest installment in Activision’s juggernaut shooter franchise, has set a new entertainment industry record for the biggest product launch of all time, selling 6.5 million copies in the U.S. and U.K. in its first 24 hours and earning $400 million in the process.
For the third 
year in a row, the “Call of Duty” video game franchise has set entertainment industry records, once again claiming the crown for the biggest product launch of all time.
Activision reports “Modern Warfare 3” sold 6.5 million copies in the U.S. and U.K. in its first 24 hours on shelves, earning $400 million. That tops last year’s $360 million haul from the series’ “Black Ops” installment and the $310 million earned by 2009’s “Modern Warfare 2.”
There’s little doubt 
that today’s launch of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” will set new entertainment industry records for first week revenues. But to put things in perspective, here are a few numbers – some hard, some estimated by analysts –showing how big of a monster this franchise has turned into.
If you thought 
that guy who bid $1,725 for an early copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was a bit too eager to play the game, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Over the weekend, two separate delivery trucks carrying copies of the heavily-anticipated shooter were hijacked in France. French police estimate the stolen shipments to be worth roughly 780,000 euros (about $1.1 million).
[Activision Publishing CEO 
Eric Hirshberg talks with Gamasutra about bringing new life to the Spyro series with Skylanders, and how the company’s toy-based approach with the game could pay off big.]
Over the course of its history, the Spyro the Dragon series has sold more than 20 million software units. But like any 13-year old franchise, it was getting a little long in the tooth – and had long since lost any qualities of a cutting-edge video game.
The October release of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure has changed that, though. By combining physical action figures with a unique peripheral and a video game, the title has captured the attention of the mass market (and more than a few core gamers). While sales figures aren’t yet available, the game has buzz – often a critical factor in long-term success.
Three years ago, 
when Activision was trying to figure out what to do next with the long-running Spyro the Dragon series, it really didn’t have ambitious plans.
While the character was tremendously popular in the PlayStation 2 days (when Ratchet & Clank/Resistance developer Insomnia Games was running the franchise), a string of mediocre sequels had long since dulled its earnings potential. But a radical idea from Toys For Bob, a developer most gamers had never heard of, quickly convinced the company to bet big on the little fire-breather.
The supposed war 
between EA’s Battlefield 3 and Activision’s Modern Warfare 3 is not a zero-sum game — both publishers can come out as winners, says Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris.
And so it begins. After months of sniping, posing and stare downs, Electronic Arts and Activision officially went to war Tuesday, with Battlefield 3 hitting store shelves, hoping to knock the Call of Duty series from its king of the hill position in the action shooter genre.
That’s how the story has been set up, at least. The battle of titans makes for a great headline, after all. And as we all learned from the movie Highlander, there can be only one, right? Poppycock.
There has never 
been a lot of love lost between Activision and Electronic Arts. The two video game publishers fight over just about everything.
But with Tuesday’s launch of EA’s “Battlefield 3,” the clash is taking on a particular sense of importance. At stake: The supremely profitable shooter genre – and possibly the fate of EA’s long-in-the-making turnaround.
Chris Morris: Journalist 