Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) video game business has treated the company well during the past six months. Its Kinect hands-free motion control device was the consumer electronic device of the holiday season — outselling even Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad for the final quarter of last year.
In addition, the company received got a huge boost from the game franchise that put it on the map — Halo: Reach sold 3.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on shelves and went on to be the third best-selling game of 2010 — the only console-exclusive game to make the top 10 that wasn’t made for Nintendo’s (PINK:NTDOY) Wii.
Microsoft’s plans to keep Kinect sales strong in 2011 remain unclear, the Halo series will continue to drove revenue. The game website Joystiq said Friday that Microsoft will release a remake of the original, Halo: Combat Evolved, on Nov. 15, marking the 10th anniversary of the original Xbox and Halo‘s release, –a marketing strategy that could even outdo the expected November release of Activision Blizzard’s (NASDAQ:ATVI) next Call of Duty title.
In addition to a high-definition upgrade to the original’s graphics, the remake is said to support 3-D televisions as well as network play over Microsoft’s Xbox Live.
Halo:Reach marked the end of series creators Bungie’s work on the franchise for Microsoft. The development studio plans a new game franchise to be published this year with Activision. Although Microsoft Game Studios Corporate Vice President Phil Spencer recommitted to the Halo brand, saying that the company would strive to release a new title each year in the mold of the Call of Duty franchise, investors and industry analysts expressed worry that the franchise would wither without its creators at the helm.
Although it’s nearly a year away, the video game industry can expect a ferocious holiday quarter in 2011. Microsoft had avoided going head-to-head with Activision in past Novembers, releasing Halo titles during September. Whether a nostalgia-fueled anniversary release will be enough to take on the next Call of Duty as well as Bungie’s new ATVI franchise will depend entirely on whether consumers will maintain interest in the series without its creators.
At the time of publication, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
