Tidbits #33 – “I am not a cat”

Hello, hello. 👋🏻👋🏻

I usually start off each Tidbits with some overarching theme relative to what’s going on in the world in order to make sense of it all or themes that I believe people should spend more time thinking about…

But nothing I say can better encapsulate the disruptive (but rejuvenating?) chaos that is bubbling underneath all of society at the moment than Keith Gill’s (a.k.a.… Read the rest “Tidbits #33 – “I am not a cat””

Tidbits #1

Going forward, I’m planning on publishing posts with assorted links of interest under the headline “Tidbits”. Makes it easier to create lightweight thoughts while I wait for bigger ideas to finish baking.


A couple of items that almost slipped by during the Alibaba Single’s Day hullaballoo…

About 24% of U.S. retailers say they plan to run promotions for Singles Day, Adobe said, after conducting a poll of 402 U.S.

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Activision 2019 3rd Quarter Call Highlights

Unlike most company earning calls which are too short term focused to have much worth discussing, the latest Activision call had a couple of interesting questions + answers.

These stood out to me:

On Other Franchises Moving to Mobile + Mobile Strategy:

Alex Giaimo, Analyst

Thank you, guys. Just hoping to get a bit more color around the long-term mobile strategy within the portfolio with COD mobile up and running, we know Immortal is coming at some point, but would mobile makes sense for any of the other Tentpole franchises like a WoW or an Overwatch?

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Game On

As expected, October shaped up to be an eventful month for Activision. After starting the month with very impressive numbers for Call of Duty mobile, the company almost went off track after getting involved in the politically sensitive topic of Hong Kong governance. While that remains a sensitive topic, the issue seems to have died down a bit.

And we are about to wrap up the month back on top as the good news continues to flow.… Read the rest “Game On”

Activision – Sleeping Giant or Past its Prime?

Before Tencent Games conquered China and became the world’s largest gaming company a few years ago, Activision Blizzard dominated the industry.

In many ways, Blizzard (specifically) was one of the early leaders in exploring a lot of the themes that make the gaming industry interesting today.

Blizzard was a leader in pioneering and mainstreaming new formats (e.g. MMO/MMORPG through World of Warcraft*), competitive gaming (e.g.… Read the rest “Activision – Sleeping Giant or Past its Prime?”