When the final beta is getting mass tested it should be very, very, very close to done. When the game get a release will the stock go up or down? When the game get gets released will the stock go up or down?
Blizzard always takes their sweet time to get games out the door. This was the case with Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, and both were historical best sellers. I don't think it causes people to lose interest. On the contrary, Blizzard is very transparent with their games, releasing lots of information on their web site as development goes on. I think this only builds anticipation for their games. Additionally, it ensures that the game quality is superb, which always helps with sales.
You can only tease an audience so long until they lose interest. I fear that Blizzard is going to take too long and then put out Diablo 3, and Starcraft II with reduced fan fare.
To clarify, this stock now represents the first installment of the Starcraft II trilogy. Under current understanding of the games' distribution, the three games are not substitutes for each other and so the original forecast of a single Starcraft II game would not simply be split into thirds for the pricing of these new GLS stocks, as those wanting the "full Starcraft II experience" would still need to purchase all three products.
This stock has simply been renamed to refer to the first installment of Starcraft II with no adjustment to its stock price by the simExchange.
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"I think they'll sell 5-6 million units quickly, 9-10 million eventually"
"same kind of #'s for Diablo 3, maybe smaller, due to smaller online fanbase"
"but I do think new Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 players are going to pay something to get onto Battlenet to play multiplayer"
"I think that's part of Blizzard's business model and why Activision and Blizzard got together"
"that's going to impact the overall sales of those games... depending on how much they charge"
"if Battlenet is $3 a month there gonna get 6-8 million players if it's $25 a month (just for example) there gonna get 1 million players"
"so let's see what they're gonna charge that's gonna determine the outcome (of Starcraft 2 & Diablo 3 sales)"
Has anyone priced in a possible charge for Battlenet into their Starcraft 2 prediction?