Activision Shares Fall 10% After Game Launch Delayed

After the news broke out about launch delay of two new games, Activision Blizzard Inc. saw its shares fall by 10% on Tuesday in after-hours trading. The company also released its earnings report for the third-quarter and updated holiday outlook which failed to meet expectations.

The company announced that its sequel to 2016 “Diablo” and “Overwatch” was experiencing some delays and may not be launched on the previously decided date. Other reasons which contributed to the game launch delay included leadership changes which occurred after the corporation came under the spotlight after allegations of gender-based discrimination.

Activision which has 390 million active users stated that its net bookings and net income went up for the quarter to %1.88 billion and $639 million. The president CEO Daniel Alegre said, “It’s become apparent that some of the Blizzard content planned for the next year will benefit from more development time to reach its full potential.”

The company has so far paid $18 million to settle a lawsuit which was pursued by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last September. However, regulatory authorities have said the settlement amount is far too less and provisions must be made. In light of recent events, Activision has reformed company policies and has implemented a new ant harassment policy to counter such problems in the workplace.

©Photo: AP