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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark one)  

ý

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008

OR

o

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                             to                              

Commission File Number 0-12699

ACTIVISION, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware   95-4803544
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

3100 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA

 

90405
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (310) 255-2000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Class
  Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Preferred Stock Purchase Rights    
Common Stock, par value $.000001 per share   The NASDAQ Global Select Market

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý    No o

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15 (d) of the Act. Yes o    No ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

         Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large Accelerated Filer ý   Accelerated Filer o   Non-accelerated Filer o
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
  Smaller Reporting Company o

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o    No ý

         The aggregate market value of the Common Stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates of the registrant on September 28, 2007 was $4,764,158,372.

         The number of shares of the registrant's Common Stock outstanding as of May 20, 2008 was 296,748,734.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

         Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K, with respect to the 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report.




INDEX

 
   
  Page No.
PART I.    3
  Item 1.   Business   3
  Item 1A.   Risk Factors   12
  Item 1B.   Unresolved Staff Comments   26
  Item 2.   Properties   27
  Item 3.   Legal Proceedings   27
  Item 4.   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders   30

PART II. 

 

31
  Item 5.   Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities   31
  Item 6.   Selected Consolidated Financial Data   35
  Item 7.   Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations   36
  Item 7A.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk   74
  Item 8.   Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data   75
  Item 9.   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures   76
  Item 9A.   Controls and Procedures   76
  Item 9B.   Other Information   77

PART III. 

 

78
  Item 10.   Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance   78
  Item 11.   Executive Compensation   78
  Item 12.   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters   78
  Item 13.   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence   78
  Item 14.   Principal Accountant Fees and Services   78

PART IV. 

 

79
  Item 15.   Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedule   79

SIGNATURES

 

87

CERTIFICATION

 

 

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PART I

        This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains, or incorporates by reference, certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, (1) projections of revenues, expenses, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, cash flow projections or other financial items; (2) statements of our plans and objectives, including those relating to product releases; (3) statements of future economic performance; and (4) statements of assumptions underlying such statements. We generally use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "would," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "to be," "upcoming," "will," and other similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risk, reflect management's current expectations, estimates and projections about our business, and are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Our actual results could differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date on which they were first made, and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date this Annual Report on Form 10-K was initially filed with the SEC. Risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors," included in Part I, Item 1A. Except where the context otherwise requires, all references to "we," "us," "our," "Activision" or "the Company" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K mean Activision, Inc. and its subsidiaries as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 1.    BUSINESS

(a)   General

        Activision, Inc. is a leading international publisher of interactive entertainment software and peripheral products. We have built a company with a diverse portfolio of products that spans a wide range of categories and target markets and that are used on a variety of game hardware platforms and operating systems. We have created, licensed, and acquired a group of highly recognizable franchises, which we market to a variety of consumer demographics. Our fiscal 2008 product portfolio included titles such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero II for the Microsoft Xbox360, Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s for the PS2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3 The Game ("Spider-Man 3"), Shrek the Third, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Bee Movie Game, and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.

        Our products cover diverse game categories including action/adventure, action sports, racing, role-playing, simulation, first-person action, music-based gaming, and strategy. Our target customer base ranges from casual players to game enthusiasts, children to adults, and mass-market consumers to "value" buyers. We currently offer our products primarily in versions that operate on the Sony PlayStation 2 ("PS2"), the Sony PlayStation 3 ("PS3"), the Nintendo Wii ("Wii"), and the Microsoft Xbox360 ("Xbox360") console systems, the Nintendo Dual Screen ("NDS"), and the Sony PlayStation Portable ("PSP") hand-held devices, and the personal computer ("PC"). The installed base for the previous generation of hardware platforms (e.g., the PS2) is significant and the fiscal 2006 release of the Xbox360 and the fiscal 2007 releases of the PS3 and the Wii have further expanded the software market. To take advantage of the growth of the PS3, the Xbox360, and the Wii ("the next-generation platforms"), during fiscal 2008, we increased our presence on the next-generation platforms through the increased number of new released titles on the next-generation platforms. For example, the number of new released titles for the Wii tripled from 5 releases during fiscal 2007 to 15 releases, and we successfully released several major titles for the PS3, the Xbox360 and/or the Wii—Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Some of these titles are also available on the PS2. Our plan is to continue to build a significant presence on the next-generation platforms by continuing to expand

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the number of titles released on the next-generation and hand-held platforms while continuing to market to the PS2 platform as long as economically attractive given its large installed base.

        Our publishing business involves the development, marketing, and sale of products directly, by license, or through our affiliate label program with certain third-party publishers. Our distribution business consists of operations in Europe that provide logistical and sales services to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations, and manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware.

        We were originally incorporated in California in 1979. In December 1992, we reincorporated in Delaware. In June 2000, we reorganized into our current holding company organizational structure.

(b)   Business Combinations

        We have completed a number of acquisitions of both software development companies and interactive entertainment product distribution companies. In fiscal 2008, we acquired Bizarre Creations Limited, a video game developer focusing on the racing category. Also, in fiscal 2008, we completed the acquisition of DemonWare, Ltd., a provider of network middleware technologies for console and PC games. See Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding the accounting treatment of these and prior acquisitions.

        On December 2, 2007, we and Vivendi S.A. ("Vivendi") (Euronext Paris: VIV) announced the signing of a definitive agreement to combine Vivendi Games, Inc. ("Vivendi Games"), Vivendi's interactive entertainment business which includes Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. with us. If the transaction closes, we will be renamed Activision Blizzard, Inc. ("Activision Blizzard"), and we expect to continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI. While we will be the legal acquirer and the surviving entity in this transaction, Vivendi Games will be deemed to be the accounting acquirer in the transaction treated as a reverse acquisition for accounting purposes. See Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding the pending business combination with Vivendi Games.

(c)   Financial Information About Industry Segments

        We have two reportable segments: publishing and distribution. Publishing relates to the development (both internally and externally), marketing and sale of DVD, CD, UMD, online, and cartridge-based interactive entertainment software and peripheral products owned or controlled by us directly, by license, or through our affiliate label program with certain third-party publishers. Distribution primarily refers to logistical and sales services provided by our European distribution subsidiaries to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations and manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware. See Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for certain financial information regarding reporting segment and geographic areas required by Item 1 of Form 10-K.

(d)   Narrative Description of Business

        Our objective is to be a worldwide leader in the development, publishing, and distribution of quality interactive entertainment software and peripheral products that deliver a highly satisfying consumer entertainment experience. Our business strategy, the key components of our business operations, and the risk factors that could impact our business are detailed below.

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Strategy

        Create, Acquire, and Maintain Strong Franchises.    We focus development and publishing activities principally on products that are, or have the potential to become, franchises with sustainable consumer appeal and recognition. It is our experience that these products can then serve as the basis for sequels, prequels, and related new products that can be released over an extended period of time. We believe that the publishing and distribution of products based in large part on franchises enhances predictability of revenues and the probability of high unit volume sales and operating profits. We have created a number of successful internally developed intellectual properties such as the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises. We have also entered into a series of strategic relationships with the owners of intellectual property pursuant to which we have acquired the rights to publish products based on franchises such as Marvel Entertainment, Inc. properties, including Spider-Man and X-Men. We have multi-year, multi-property agreements with DreamWorks Animation LLC that grant us the exclusive rights to publish video games based on DreamWorks Animation SKG's theatrical releases, including "Shark Tale," which was released in the second quarter fiscal 2005, "Madagascar," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2006, "Over the Hedge," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2007, "Shrek the Third," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2008, "Bee Movie," which was released in the third quarter fiscal 2008, and all of their respective sequels. In addition, our multi-year agreements with DreamWorks Animation LLC grant us the exclusive video game rights to three upcoming DreamWorks Animation feature films, including "Kung Fu Panda," "Monsters vs Aliens" and "How to Train Your Dragon." We plan to release Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, and Madagascar 2 during fiscal 2009 coinciding with each of their respective theatrical releases. We have a strategic alliance with Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. that grants us the exclusive, worldwide interactive rights to develop and publish "World Series of Poker" video games based on the popular World Series of Poker Tournament. We also have an agreement with MGM Interactive and EON Productions Ltd. to develop and publish video games based on the James Bond license and with Hasbro Properties Group ("Hasbro") to develop and publish video games based on the "Transformers" franchise.

        Execute Disciplined Product Selection and Development Processes.    The success of our publishing business depends, in significant part, on our ability to develop high quality games that will generate high unit volume sales. Our publishing units have implemented a formal control process for the selection, development, production, and quality assurance of our products. We apply this process, which we refer to as the "Greenlight Process," to all of our products, whether externally or internally developed. The Greenlight Process includes in-depth reviews of each project at several important stages of development by a team that includes many of our highest-ranking operating managers and coordination between our sales and marketing personnel and development staff at each step in the process.

        We develop our products using a combination of our internal development resources and external development resources acting under contract with us. We typically select our external developers based on their track record and expertise in producing products in the same category. One developer will often produce the same game for multiple platforms and will produce sequels to the original game. We believe that selecting and using development resources in this manner allows us to leverage the particular expertise of our internal and external development resources, which we believe adds to the quality of our products.

        Create and Maintain Diversity in Product Mix, Platforms, and Markets.    We believe that maintaining a diversified mix of products can reduce our operating risks and enhance profitability. Therefore, we develop and publish products spanning a wide range of product categories, including action/adventure, action sports, racing, role-playing, simulation, first-person action, music-based gaming, and strategy. We also develop products designed for target audiences ranging from casual players to game enthusiasts, children to adults, and mass-market consumers to "value" buyers. Presently, we concentrate on developing, publishing, and distributing products that operate on the PS2, PS3, Xbox360, and Wii

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console systems, PSP and NDS hand-held devices, and the PC. We typically offer our products for use on multiple platforms in order to reduce the risks associated with any single platform, leverage our costs over a larger installed hardware base, and increase unit sales.

        Continue to Improve Profitability.    We continually strive to manage risk and increase our operating leverage and efficiency with the goal of increased profitability. We believe the key factor affecting our future profitability will be the success rate of our product releases. Therefore, our product selection and development process includes, as a significant component, periodic evaluations of the expected commercial success of products under development. Through this process, for titles that we determine to be less promising, corrections are made in the development process or, if necessary, they are discontinued before we incur additional development costs. In addition, we believe our focus on cross platform releases and franchised products will contribute to improved profitability.

        We continue to focus on increasing our margins. We have, for example, acquired certain experienced and specialized developers in instances where we can enhance profitability through the elimination of royalty obligations. Additionally, we often rely on independent third-party interactive entertainment software developers to develop some of our software products, thereby taking advantage of specialized independent developers without incurring the fixed overhead obligations associated with increased internally employed staff.

        Our sales and marketing staff work with our studio resources to increase the visibility of new product launches and to coordinate the timing and promotion of product releases. Our finance and sales and marketing personnel work together to improve inventory management and receivables collections. We have instituted broad, objective-based reward programs that provide incentives to management and staff throughout the organization to produce results that meet our financial objectives.

        Grow Through Continued Strategic Acquisitions and Alliances.    The interactive entertainment industry has been consolidating, and we believe that success in this industry will be driven in part by the ability to take advantage of scale. Specifically, smaller companies are more capital constrained, enjoy less predictability of revenues and cash flow, lack product diversity and must spread fixed costs over a smaller revenue base. Several industry leaders are emerging that combine the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of the industry with professional management, the ability to access the capital markets, and the ability to maintain favorable relationships with developers, intellectual property owners, and retailers. Through numerous completed acquisitions since 1997, we believe that we have successfully diversified our operations, channels of distribution, development talent pool, and library of titles, and we have emerged as one of the industry's leaders. We intend to continue to evaluate the expansion of our resources through acquisitions, strategic relationships, and key license transactions. We intend to continue expanding our intellectual property library through key license transactions and strategic relationships with intellectual property owners. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to increase our development capacity through the acquisition of or investment in selected experienced software development firms.

Products

        Historically, we have been best known for our action/adventure, strategy, and simulation products. We have been successful in the superheroes category with our release of titles based on the Spider-Man and X-Men properties. We have also been successful in the first person action categories through the Call of Duty original intellectual property, which we plan on continuing as a successful long-term franchise. Call of Duty has achieved over $1 billion life-to-date sales. In fiscal 2007 we successfully entered the music-based gaming genre with the acquisition of the Guitar Hero franchise. This franchise combines interactive software with a hardware peripheral in the form of a guitar. In fiscal 2008 the Guitar Hero franchise has set an industry record, surpassing $1 billion in North America retail sales in

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26 months. We have established ourselves as a leader in the "value" software publishing business with products under our Cabela's, Rapala, World Series of Poker, and Greg Hasting's Paintball licenses, as well as with products distributed on behalf of our "value" affiliate label partners. Products published by us in this category are generally developed by third parties, often under contract with us. Value software is typically less sophisticated and less complex, both in terms of the development process and consumer gameplay.

        Hardware Licenses.    Our products currently are being developed or published primarily for the PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox360 console systems; PSP and NDS hand-held devices; and PCs. In order to maintain general access to the console systems and hand-held devices marketplace, we have maintained licenses for the PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox360 console systems and PSP, and NDS hand-held devices with the owners of each such platform. Each license allows us to create multiple products for the applicable platform, subject to certain approval rights which are reserved by each licensor. Each license also requires that we pay the licensor a per unit royalty for each unit manufactured. In contrast, we are not required to obtain any license for the development and production of products for PCs.

        Intellectual Property Rights.    Many of our current and planned releases are based on intellectual property, other character or story rights, and music rights licensed from third parties, as well as a combination of characters, worlds, and concepts derived from our extensive library of titles, and original characters and concepts owned and created by us. When publishing products based on licensed intellectual property rights, we generally seek to capitalize on the name recognition, marketing efforts, and goodwill associated with the underlying property. For intellectual property owned by Activision, we generally attempt to establish such properties as sustainable, long-term game franchises.

        In acquiring intellectual property rights from third parties, we seek to obtain rights to publish titles across a variety of platforms, to include the ability to produce multiple titles and to retain rights over an extended period of time. In past years, we have been able to enter into a series of long-term or multi-product agreements with owners of various intellectual properties that are well known throughout the world and to create products based on these recognizable characters, story lines, or concepts. These agreements typically provide us with exclusive publishing rights for a specific period of time and, in some cases, for specified platforms and, in other cases, with renewal rights upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. The scope of our licensing activities includes theatrical motion pictures, television shows, animated films and series, comic books, literary works, music, sports personalities and events, and celebrities. We intend to continue expanding relationships with our existing intellectual property partners and to enter into agreements with other intellectual property owners for additional recognizable properties, characters, story lines and concepts. However, we may not be able to maintain or expand our existing relationships or to seek out and sustain new long-term relationships of similar caliber in the future.

Product Development and Support

        We develop and produce titles using a model in which a core group of creative, production, and technical professionals, in coordination with our marketing and finance departments, have responsibility for the entire development and production process including the supervision and coordination of internal and external resources. This team assembles the necessary creative elements to complete a title using, where appropriate, outside programmers, artists, animators, scriptwriters, musicians and songwriters, sound effects and special effects experts, and sound and video studios. We believe that this model allows us to supplement internal expertise with top quality external resources on an as-needed basis.

        In addition, we often seek out and engage independent third-party developers to create products on our behalf. Such products are sometimes owned by us, and usually we have unlimited rights to commercially exploit these products. In other circumstances, the third-party developer may retain

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ownership of the intellectual property and/or technology included in the product and reserve certain exploitation rights. We typically select these independent third-party developers based on their expertise in developing products in a specific category and use the same developer to produce the same game for multiple platforms. Each of our third-party developers is under contract with us for specific or multiple titles. From time to time, we also acquire the license rights to publish and/or distribute software products that are or will be independently created by third-party developers. In such cases, the agreements with such developers provide us with exclusive publishing and/or distribution rights for a specific period of time, often for specified platforms and territories. In either case, we often have the ability to publish and/or distribute sequels, conversions, enhancements, and add-ons to the product initially being produced by the independent developer and we frequently have the right to engage the services of the original developer with regard to the development of such products.

        In consideration for the services that the independent third-party developer provides, the developer receives a royalty generally based on net sales of the product that it has developed. Typically, the developer also receives an advance, which we recoup from the royalties otherwise payable to the developer. The advance generally is paid in "milestone" stages. The payment at each stage is tied to the completion and delivery of a detailed performance milestone. Some contracts include minimum guaranteed royalty payments which are recorded as an asset when actually paid and as a liability when incurred, rather than recording the asset and liability upon execution of the contract. Working with an independent developer allows us to reduce our fixed development costs, share development risks with the third-party developer, take advantage of the third-party developer's expertise in connection with certain categories of products or certain platforms, and gain access to proprietary development technologies.

"Greenlight Process"

        We have adopted and implemented a rigorous procedure for the selection, development, production, and quality assurance of our internally and externally produced interactive entertainment software titles. The process, known internally as the "Greenlight Process," involves several phases throughout the development and production and the post-release review of a title, each of which includes a number of specific performance milestones. The phases of the "Greenlight Process" are the concept, developer selection, prototype, first playable, alpha, and post-mortem. This procedure is designed to enable us to manage and control production and development budgets and timetables, to identify and address production and technical issues at the earliest opportunity, and to coordinate marketing and quality control strategies throughout the production and development phases, all in an environment that fosters creativity. The post-release review of a title is critical to provide feedback and ideas to our future development. Checks and balances are intended to be provided through the structured interaction of the project team with our creative, technical, marketing, and quality assurance/customer support personnel, as well as our legal, accounting, and finance departments. In order to maintain the competitiveness of our products and to take advantage of increasingly sophisticated technology associated with hardware platforms, our development process includes a significant amount of time for play-testing new products, and extensive product quality evaluations.

Product Support

        We provide various forms of product support to both our internally and externally developed titles. Our quality assurance personnel are involved throughout the development and production of each title published by us. We subject all such products to extensive testing before release to ensure compatibility with all appropriate hardware systems and configurations and to minimize the number of bugs and other defects found in the products. To support our products after release, we provide online access to our customers on a 24-hour basis as well as telephone operator help lines during regular business

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hours. The customer support group tracks customer inquiries and we use this data to help improve the development and production processes.

Publishing Activities

Marketing

        Our marketing efforts include online activities (such as the creation of World Wide Web pages to promote specific titles and build user communities around our franchises), public relations, print and broadcast advertising, coordinated in-store and industry promotions (including merchandising and point of purchase displays), participation in cooperative advertising programs, direct response vehicles, and product sampling through demonstration software distributed through the Internet or on compact discs. From time to time, we also receive marketing support from hardware manufacturers and retailers in connection with their own promotional efforts. In addition, certain of our products contain software that enables customers to "electronically register" their purchases with us online.

        We believe that certain of our franchises have loyal and devoted audiences who purchase our sequels as a result of dedication to the property and satisfaction from previous product purchases. We therefore market these sequels both toward the established market as well as broader audiences. In addition, in marketing titles based on licensed properties, we believe that we derive benefits from the continued exploitation of these licensed properties and the marketing and promotional activities of the property owners.

Sales and Distribution

        North America.    Our products are available for sale or rental in thousands of retail outlets domestically. Our North American customers include Best Buy, Blockbuster, Circuit City, GameStop, Target, Toys "R" Us, and Wal-Mart.

        In the United States and Canada, our products are sold primarily on a direct basis to mass-market retailers, consumer electronics stores, discount warehouses, and game specialty stores. We believe that a direct relationship with retail accounts results in more effective inventory management, merchandising, and communications than would be possible through indirect relationships. We have implemented electronic data interchange linkages with many of our retailers to facilitate the placing and shipping of orders. We sell our products to a limited number of distributors.

        International.    Our products are sold internationally on a direct-to-retail basis, through third-party distribution and licensing arrangements, and through our wholly-owned European distribution subsidiaries. We conduct our international publishing activities through offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. We seek to maximize our worldwide revenues and profits by releasing high quality foreign language releases concurrently with English language releases and by continuing to expand the number of direct selling relationships we maintain with key retailers in major territories.

        On a worldwide basis, our largest customers, Wal-Mart and GameStop, accounted for approximately 14% and 13%, respectively, of consolidated net revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, our largest customers, Wal-Mart and GameStop, accounted for 22% and 8%, respectively, of consolidated net revenues.

        Affiliate Labels.    In addition to our own products, we distribute a select number of interactive entertainment products that are developed and marketed by other third-party publishers through our "affiliate label" programs in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. The distribution of other publishers' products allows us to increase the efficiencies of our sales force and provides us with the ability to better ensure adequate shelf presence at retail stores for all of the products that we distribute. Distributing other publishers' titles mitigates the risk associated with a particular title or

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titles published by us failing to achieve expectations. Services provided by us under our affiliate label program include order solicitation, in-store marketing, logistics and order fulfillment, sales channel management, as well as other accounting and general administrative functions. Our current affiliate label partners include LucasArts, as well as several affiliate label partners in our "value" business. Each affiliate label relationship is unique and may pertain only to distribution in certain geographic territories such as the North America, Europe, or the Asia Pacific region and may be further limited only to specific titles or titles for specific platforms.

        See Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for certain financial information regarding reporting segments and geographic areas required by Item 1.

Distribution

        We distribute interactive entertainment hardware and software products in Europe through our European distribution subsidiaries: Centresoft in the United Kingdom; NBG in Germany; and CD Contact in the Benelux countries. These subsidiaries act as wholesalers in the distribution of products and also provide packaging and logistical and sales services. They provide services to our publishing operations and to various third-party publishers, including Sony Computer Entertainment ("Sony"), Nintendo Co. Ltd. ("Nintendo"), and Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft"). Centresoft is Sony's exclusive distributor of PlayStation products to the independent channel in the United Kingdom. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, sales for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft accounted for approximately 29%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, of our worldwide distribution net revenues.

        We entered into the distribution business to obtain distribution capacity in Europe for our own products, while supporting the distribution infrastructure with third-party sales, and to diversify our operations into the European market. Centresoft and our other distribution subsidiaries operate in accordance with strict confidentiality procedures in order to provide independent services to various third-party publishers.

Emerging Technologies

        We are actively supporting emerging platforms (wireless devices, digital downloads, and closed and open online networks) by publishing and licensing key franchises for these emerging platforms. We have published and licensed rights to various franchises, such as the Call of Duty franchise, the Guitar Hero franchise, Tony Hawk's Project 8, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for various hand-held wireless devices. We also develop and optimize many of our titles for consoles that support online play, such as PS2, Xbox Live on the Xbox360, and the Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii consoles. We believe that more of our franchises can be successfully published for wireless and online platforms, as well as exploited through other emerging technologies, as they continue to evolve.

        In addition, we derive revenue from in-game advertising consisting primarily of fixed product placement. We are developing and expanding on dynamic ad serving technology and will continue to focus on attracting third parties to advertise in our video games.

Manufacturing

        We prepare a set of master program copies, documentation, and packaging materials for our products for each hardware platform on which the product will be released. We also manufacture separate hardware peripherals, such as the guitar in Guitar Hero. Except with respect to products for use on the Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft systems, our disk and hardware peripheral's duplication, packaging, printing, manufacturing, warehousing, assembly, and shipping are performed by third-party subcontractors.

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        To maintain protection over their hardware technologies, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft generally specify or control the manufacturing and assembly of finished products. We deliver the master materials to the licensor or its approved replicator, which then manufactures finished goods and delivers them to us for distribution under our label. We use the manufacturers who are authorized by Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft to make the hardware peripheral for Guitar Hero. At the time our product unit orders are filled by the manufacturer, we become responsible for the costs of manufacturing and the applicable per unit royalty on such units, even if the units do not ultimately sell.

        To date, we have not experienced any material difficulties or delays in the manufacture and assembly of our products or material returns due to product defects.

Competition

        The interactive entertainment industry is intensely competitive and new interactive entertainment software products and platforms are regularly introduced. Our competitors vary in size from small companies with limited resources to large corporations with greater financial, marketing, and product development resources than we have. Due to their different focuses and allocation of resources, certain of our competitors spend more money and time on developing and testing products, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, pay higher fees to licensors for desirable motion picture, television, sports and character properties, and pay more to third-party software developers. In addition, competitors with large product lines and popular titles typically have greater leverage with retailers, distributors, and other customers who may be willing to promote titles with less consumer appeal in return for access to such competitor's most popular titles. We believe that the main competitive factors in the interactive entertainment industry include: product features and playability; brand name recognition; compatibility of products with popular platforms; access to distribution channels; quality of products; ease of use; price; marketing support; and quality of customer service.

        We compete primarily with other publishers of personal computer and video game console interactive entertainment software. Significant third-party software competitors currently include, among others: Capcom Co. Ltd.; Eidos PLC; Electronic Arts Inc.; Konami Company Ltd.; Midway Games Inc.; Namco Bandai Games Ltd.; Sega Enterprises, Ltd.; Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.; THQ Inc.; Ubisoft Entertainment; Viacom/MTV; Vivendi Games Publishing; Warner Bro's Interactive; and the Walt Disney Company. In addition, integrated video game console hardware and software companies such as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft compete directly with us in the development of software titles for their respective platforms.

Employees

        As of March 31, 2008, we had approximately 2,640 employees, including approximately 1,200 in product development, 500 in North American publishing, 500 in international publishing, 170 in operations, corporate finance and administration, and 270 in European distribution activities.

        As of March 31, 2008, approximately 260 of our full-time employees were subject to term employment agreements with us. These agreements generally commit such employees to employment terms of between one and five years from the commencement of their respective agreements. Most of the employees subject to such agreements are executive officers or key members of the product development, sales, or marketing divisions. These individuals perform services for us as executives, directors, producers, associate producers, computer programmers, game designers, sales directors, and marketing product managers. The execution by us of employment agreements with such employees, in our experience, reduces our turnover during the development, production, and distribution phases of our entertainment software products and allows us to plan more effectively for future development and marketing activities.

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        None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement except for the employees of our German distribution subsidiary who are allowed by German law to belong to an organized labor council. To date, we have not experienced any labor-related work stoppages.

Financial Information about Foreign Geographic Areas

        See Item 7 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8.

Available Information

        Our website is located at http://www.activision.com. Furthermore, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), are available free of charge through our website. The information found on our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this or any other report that we file with or furnish to the SEC.

Item 1A.    RISK FACTORS

        Our business is subject to many risks and uncertainties, which may affect our future financial performance. If any of the events or circumstances described below occurs, our business and financial performance could be harmed, our actual results could differ materially from our expectations, and the market value of our securities could decline. The risks discussed below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks exist that we do not currently believe to be material, and there may also be other risks that are not currently known to us, that may also harm our business and adversely affect our future financial performance and the market value of our stock.

Risks Factors Relating to the Interactive Entertainment Industry and Our Business

We depend on a relatively small number of franchises for a significant portion of our revenues and profits.

        A significant portion of our revenues is derived from products based on a relatively small number of popular franchises each year, and these products are responsible for a disproportionate amount of our profits. In addition, many of these products have substantial production or acquisition costs and marketing budgets. In fiscal 2008, 65% of our consolidated net revenues and 75% of our worldwide publishing net revenues were derived from three franchises and in fiscal 2007, 39% of our consolidated net revenues and 52% of our worldwide publishing net revenues were derived from three franchises. We expect that a limited number of popular franchises will continue to produce a disproportionately large amount of our revenues and profits. Due to this dependence on a limited number of franchises, the failure to achieve anticipated results by one or more products based on these franchises may significantly harm our business and financial results.

Our future success depends on our ability to release popular products.

        The life of any one console or handheld game product is relatively short and generally involves a relatively high level of sales during the first few months after introduction followed by a rapid decline in sales. Because revenues associated with an initial product launch generally constitute a high percentage of the total revenues associated with the life of a product, delays in product releases or disruptions following the commercial release of one or more new products could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cause such operating results to be materially different from expectations. It is therefore important for us to be able to continue to develop many high quality new products that are popularly received. We focus our development and publishing activities principally on

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products that are, or have the potential to become, franchise brand properties. If we are unable to do this, our business and financial results may be negatively affected.

Our business is "hit" driven. If we do not deliver "hit" titles, or if consumers prefer competing products, our sales could suffer.

        While many new products are regularly introduced, only a relatively small number of "hit" titles account for a significant portion of net revenues. Competitors may develop titles that imitate or compete with our "hit" titles, and take sales away from us or reduce our ability to command premium prices for those titles. Hit products published by our competitors may take a larger share of consumer spending than anticipated, which could cause our product sales to fall below expectations. If our competitors develop more successful products or offer competitive products at lower prices, or if we do not continue to develop consistently high-quality and well received products, our revenue, margins, and profitability will decline.

If we are unable to maintain or acquire licenses to intellectual property, we may publish fewer "hit" titles and our revenue may decline.

        Some of our products are based on intellectual property and other character or story rights acquired or licensed from third parties. These license and distribution agreements are limited in scope and time, and we may not be able to renew key licenses when they expire or to include new products in existing licenses. The loss of a significant number of our intellectual property licenses or of our relationships with licensors, or our inability to obtain additional licenses of significant commercial value could have a material adverse effect on our ability to develop new products and therefore on our business and financial results. Additionally, the failure of intellectual property acquired by us to be popularly received could impact the market acceptance of those products in which the intellectual property is included. Such lack of market acceptance could result in the write-off of the unrecovered portion of acquired intellectual property assets, which could cause material harm to our business and financial results. Furthermore, the competition for these licenses and distribution agreements is often intense. Competition for these licenses may also increase the advances, guarantees, and royalties that we must pay to the licensor.

Our business is highly dependent on the success, timely release and availability of new video game platforms, on the continued availability of existing video game platforms, as well as our ability to develop commercially successful products for these platforms.

        We derive most of our revenue from the sale of products for play on video game platforms manufactured by third parties, such as Sony's PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii and DS. The success of our business is driven in large part by the availability of an adequate supply of these video game platforms, our ability to accurately predict which platforms will be successful in the marketplace, and our ability to develop commercially successful products for these platforms. We must make product development decisions and commit significant resources well in advance of the anticipated introduction of a new platform. A new platform for which we are developing products may be delayed, may not succeed or may have a shorter life cycle than anticipated. Alternatively, a platform for which we have not devoted significant resources could be more successful than initially anticipated, causing us to miss a meaningful revenue opportunity. Additionally, if the platforms for which we are developing products are not released when anticipated, are not available in adequate quantities to meet consumer demand, or do not attain wide market acceptance, our revenue may suffer, we may be unable to fully recover the investments we have made in developing those products, and our financial performance may be harmed.

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Transitions in console platforms could have a material impact on the market for interactive entertainment software.

        In 2005, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 and, in 2006, Sony and Nintendo introduced their respective next-generation hardware platforms, the PlayStation 3 and Wii. When new console platforms are announced or introduced into the market, consumers typically reduce their purchases of game console entertainment software products for current console platforms in anticipation of new platforms becoming available. During these periods, sales of our game console entertainment software products may be expected to slow or even decline until new platforms are introduced and achieve wide consumer acceptance. This decline may not be offset by increased sales of products for the new console platforms. As console hardware moves through its life cycle, hardware manufacturers typically enact price reductions and decreasing prices may put downward pressure on software prices. During platform transitions, we may simultaneously incur costs both in continuing to develop and market new titles for prior-generation video game platforms, which may not sell at premium prices, and also in developing products for next-generation platforms, which will not generate immediate or near-term revenue. As a result, our operating results during platform transitions may be more volatile and more difficult to predict than during other times, and such volatility may cause greater fluctuations in our stock price.

We must make significant expenditures to develop products for new platforms which may not be successful.

        We must make substantial product development and other investments in a particular platform well in advance of introduction of the platform and may be required to realign our product portfolio and development efforts in response to market changes. Furthermore, development costs for new console platforms are greater than such costs for current console platforms. If increased costs are not offset by higher revenues and other cost efficiencies, our operating results will suffer and our financial position will be harmed. If the platforms for which we develop new software products or modify existing products do not attain significant market penetration, we may not be able to recover our development costs, which could be significant, and our business and financial results could be significantly harmed.

If the average price of prior-generation titles continues to decline or if we are unable to sustain launch pricing on next-generation titles, our operating results will suffer.

        We have experienced a decrease in the average price of titles for prior-generation platforms. With the transition of the interactive entertainment industry to next-generation video game platforms, fewer prior-generation titles are able to command premium prices, and we expect that even those titles that can do so will be subject to price reductions at an earlier point in their sales cycle than was the case with prior platform transitions. We expect the average price of prior-generation titles to continue to be under pressure, which may have a negative effect on our margins and operating results.

        Next-generation titles for the Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii have been offered at premium retail prices since the launch of such consoles. We expect to continue to price next-generation titles at a premium level, but if we are unable to sustain launch pricing on these next-generation titles we may experience a negative effect on our margins and operating results.

The interactive entertainment industry is highly competitive and our competitors may succeed in narrowing our market share and reducing our sales.

        We compete with other publishers of PC and video game console interactive entertainment software and peripherals. Those competitors vary in size from small companies with limited resources to very large corporations with significantly greater financial, marketing, and product development resources than we have. For example, integrated video game console hardware and software companies such as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft compete directly with us in the development of software titles

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for their respective platforms. Certain of these competitors may spend more money and time on developing and testing products, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, pay higher fees to licensors for desirable motion picture, television, sports, music and character properties, and pay more to third-party software developers than we do.

        We also compete with other forms of entertainment and leisure activities. For example, the overall growth in the use of the Internet and online services by consumers may pose a competitive threat if customers and potential customers spend less of their available time using interactive entertainment software and more using the Internet and online services. A number of software publishers who compete with us have developed and commercialized or are currently developing online games for use by consumers over the Internet. Future increased consumer acceptance and increases in the availability of online games or technological advances in online game software or the Internet could result in a decline in platform-based software and negatively impact sales of our console and handheld products. Direct sales of software over the Internet by competitors could materially adversely affect our distribution business as well.

        Competition in the interactive entertainment industry is intense and we expect new competitors to continue to emerge.

Our platform licensors are our chief competitors and frequently control the manufacturing of and have broad approval rights over our console and handheld video game products.

        Generally, when we develop interactive entertainment software products for hardware platforms offered by Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft, the products are manufactured exclusively by that hardware manufacturer or their approved replicator.

        The agreements with these manufacturers include certain provisions, such as approval rights over all software products and related hardware peripherals and promotional materials and the ability to change the fee they charge for the manufacturing of products, which allow them substantial influence over the cost and the release schedule of such interactive entertainment software products. In addition, since each of the manufacturers is also a publisher of games for its own hardware platforms and manufactures products for all of its other licensees, a manufacturer may give priority to its own products or those of our competitors in the event of insufficient manufacturing capacity. Accordingly, Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft could cause unanticipated delays in the release of our products as well as increases to our projected development, manufacturing, marketing, or distribution costs, which could materially harm our business and financial results.

        In addition, platform licensors control our ability to provide online game capabilities for console platform products and in large part establish the financial terms on which these services are offered to consumers. Currently, Microsoft provides online capabilities for the Xbox 360 and Sony provides online capabilities for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 products. In each case, compatibility code and/or the consent of the licensor are required for us to include online capabilities in our console products. As these capabilities become more significant, the failure or refusal of licensors to approve our products may harm our business and financial results.

Our platform licensors set the royalty rates and other fees that we must pay to publish games for their platforms, and therefore have significant influence on our costs.

        We pay a licensing fee to the hardware manufacturer for each copy of a product manufactured for that manufacturer's game platform. In order to publish products for new hardware platforms, we must take a license from the platform licensor which gives the platform licensor the opportunity to set the fee structure that we must pay in order to publish games for that platform. Similarly, the platform licensors have retained the flexibility to change their fee structures for online gameplay and features for their consoles and the manufacturing of products. The control that platform licensors have over the fee

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structures for their platforms and online access makes it difficult for us to predict our costs and profitability in the medium to long term. It is also possible that platform licensors will not renew our existing licenses. Because publishing products for console systems is the largest portion of our business, any increase in fee structures or nonrenewal of licenses could have a significant negative impact on our business model and profitability.

We rely on independent third parties to develop some of our software products.

        We rely on independent third-party software developers to develop some of our software products. Since we depend on these developers, in the aggregate, we remain subject to the following risks:

        Increased competition for skilled third-party software developers also has compelled us to agree to make significant advance payments on royalties to game developers. If the products subject to these arrangements do not generate sufficient revenues to recover these royalty advances, we would have to write-off unrecovered portions of these payments, which could cause material harm to our business and financial results. Typically, we pay developers a royalty based on a percentage of net revenues, less agreed upon deductions, but from time to time, we have agreed to pay developers fixed per unit product royalties after royalty advances are fully recouped. To the extent that sales prices of products on which we have agreed to pay a fixed per unit royalty are marked down, our profitability could be adversely affected.

If our products contain defects, our business could be harmed significantly.

        Software products and hardware peripherals as complex as the ones we publish and distribute may contain undetected errors and defects. This risk is often higher when such products or peripherals are first introduced or when new versions are released. Failure to avoid, or to timely detect and correct, such errors or defects could result in loss of, or delay in, market acceptance, and could significantly harm our business, financial results, and reputation.

We may permit our customers to return products and to receive pricing concessions which could reduce our net revenues and results of operations.

        We are exposed to the risk of product returns and price protection with respect to our distributors and retailers. Return policies allow distributors and retailers to return defective, shelf-worn, and damaged products in accordance with terms granted. Price protection, when granted and applicable, allows customers a credit against amounts owed to us with respect to merchandise unsold by them. We may permit product returns from, or grant price protection to, our customers under certain conditions. These conditions include compliance with applicable payment terms, delivery of weekly inventory and sell-through reports, and consistent participation in the launches of our premium title releases. We may also consider other factors, including the facilitation of slow-moving inventory and other market factors.

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When we offer price protection, we offer it with respect to a particular product to all of our retail customers (although only customers who meet the conditions detailed above are entitled to such price protection). We also offer a 90-day limited warranty to our end users that our products will be free from manufacturing defects. Although we maintain a reserve for returns and price protection, and although we may place limits on product returns and price protection, we could be forced to accept substantial product returns and provide substantial price protection to maintain our relationships with retailers and our access to distribution channels. Product returns and price protection that exceed our reserves could significantly harm our business and financial results.

Sales of certain titles such as Guitar Hero are affected by hardware peripheral availability.

        Some of our titles involve one or more separate hardware peripherals, such as the guitar controller in Guitar Hero. Typically, we sell such software both in bundles with the hardware peripheral and on a stand-alone basis. Consumers may not want to buy such game software if they cannot also buy the hardware peripheral. If we underestimate demand or otherwise are unable to produce sufficient quantities of the hardware peripheral of an acceptable quality or allocate too few peripherals to geographic markets and hardware platforms where demand exceeds supply, we will forego revenue. This may also create greater opportunities for competitors to develop or gain market share with competitive product offerings. If we overestimate demand and make too many peripherals, or allocate too many peripherals to geographic markets and hardware platforms where there is insufficient demand, we will incur unrecoverable manufacturing costs for unsold units as well as for unsold game software. In either case, hardware peripheral manufacturing and allocation decisions may negatively affect our financial performance.

        A limited number of manufacturers are authorized by Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft to make the hardware peripherals for Guitar Hero, and the majority of those manufacturers are located in China. Anything that adversely impacts the ability of those manufacturers to produce or otherwise supply the hardware peripherals for us, including the revocation of the first-party license to produce the hardware, the utilization of such manufacturer's capacity by one of our competitors, natural disasters that disrupt manufacturing, transportation or communications, labor shortages, civil unrest or issues generally negatively impacting international companies operating in China, may adversely impact our ability to supply those peripherals to the market.

We may face difficulty obtaining access to retail shelf space necessary to market and sell our products effectively.

        Retailers typically have a limited amount of shelf space and promotional resources, and there is intense competition among consumer interactive entertainment software products for high quality retail shelf space and promotional support from retailers. To the extent that the number of products and platforms increases, competition for shelf space may intensify and may require us to increase our marketing expenditures. Retailers with limited shelf space typically devote the most and highest quality shelf space to those products expected to be best sellers. We cannot be certain that our new products will consistently achieve such "best seller" status. Due to increased competition for limited shelf space, retailers and distributors are in an increasingly better position to negotiate favorable terms of sale, including price discounts, price protection, marketing and display fees, and product return policies. Our products constitute a relatively small percentage of any retailer's sales volume. We cannot be certain that retailers will continue to purchase our products or to provide those products with adequate levels of shelf space and promotional support on acceptable terms. A prolonged failure in this regard may significantly harm our business and financial results.

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Our sales may decline substantially without warning and in a brief period of time because a majority of our sales are made to a relatively small number of key customers and because we do not have long-term contracts for the sale of our products.

        In the United States and Canada, we primarily sell our products on a direct basis to mass-market retailers, consumer electronics stores, discount warehouses, and game specialty stores. Our products are sold internationally on a direct-to-retail basis, through third-party distribution and licensing arrangements and through our wholly-owned European distribution subsidiaries. Our sales are made primarily on a purchase order basis without long-term agreements or other forms of commitments. Our largest customers, Wal-Mart and GameStop, accounted for approximately 14% and 13%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 and approximately 22% and 8%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007. The loss of, or significant reduction in sales to, any of our principal retail customers or distributors could significantly harm our business and financial results. The concentration of sales in a small number of large customers also could make us more vulnerable to collection risk if one or more of these large customers became unable to pay for our products. In addition, having such a large portion of our total net revenue concentrated in a few customers reduces our negotiating leverage with these customers.

We may be burdened with payment defaults and uncollectible accounts if our distributors or retailers cannot honor their existing credit arrangements.

        Distributors and retailers in the interactive entertainment industry have from time to time experienced significant fluctuations in their businesses and a number of them have failed. The insolvency or business failure of any significant retailer or distributor of our products could materially harm our business and financial results. We typically make sales to most such retailers and some such distributors on unsecured credit, with terms that vary depending upon the customer's credit history, solvency, credit limits, and sales history, as well as whether we can obtain sufficient credit insurance. Although, as in the case with most of our customers, we have insolvency risk insurance to protect against a customer's bankruptcy, insolvency, or liquidation, this insurance contains a significant deductible and co-payment obligation, and does not cover all instances of non-payment. In addition, although we maintain a reserve for uncollectible receivables, the reserve may not be sufficient in every circumstance. As a result, a payment default by a significant customer could significantly harm our business and financial results.

We may not be able to maintain our distribution relationships with key vendors and customers.

        Our CD Contact, NBG, and Centresoft subsidiaries distribute interactive entertainment software and hardware products and provide related services in the Benelux countries, Germany, and the United Kingdom, respectively, and via export in other European countries for a variety of entertainment software publishers, many of which are our competitors, and hardware manufacturers. From time to time, they also maintain exclusive relationships to serve certain retail customers. These services are generally performed subject to limited-term arrangements. Although we expect to use reasonable efforts to retain these vendors and retail customer relationships, we may not be successful in this regard. The cancellation or non-renewal of one or more of these arrangements could adversely affect business and financial results.

Our business is subject to risks generally associated with the entertainment industry, any of which could significantly harm our operating results.

        Our business is subject to risks that are generally associated with the entertainment industry, including the popularity, price and timing of the release of our games and the platforms on which they are played; economic conditions that adversely affect discretionary consumer spending; changes in consumer demographics; the availability and popularity of other forms of entertainment; and critical

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reviews and public tastes and preferences, which may change rapidly and cannot necessarily be predicted. Many of these risks are beyond our control. These risks could negatively impact our business and financial results.

As online functionality becomes an increasingly important feature of our software products, we may need to defer the recognition of an increasing amount of revenue, which may adversely affect the net revenue, net income and earnings per share that we will report under GAAP.

        As online functionality becomes a more important component of gameplay, an increasing number of our online-enabled games may contain a more-than-inconsequential separate service deliverable in addition to the product, and our performance obligations for these games will extend beyond the sale of the games. Vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value does not exist for the online services, as we do not plan to separately charge for this component of online-enabled games. As a result, for certain key titles to be released in the December quarter of fiscal year 2009 and thereafter, we will recognize all of the revenues from the sale of certain online-enabled games for certain platforms ratably over an estimated service period, which we currently estimate to be six months beginning the month after shipment. In addition, we will defer the costs of sales of those titles. This may have an adverse effect on the revenue, net income and earnings per share that we will report for future periods under GAAP. If we are required to recognize a greater portion of the revenue of a sale after shipment, or if we are required to recognize revenue over a longer service period, there may be an adverse effect on our reported net revenue, net income and earnings per share under GAAP.

We are exposed to seasonality in the sale of our products.

        The interactive entertainment industry is highly seasonal, with the highest levels of consumer demand occurring during the calendar year end holiday buying season. As a result, net revenues, gross profits, and operating income have historically been highest during the second half of the calendar year. Our receivables and credit risk are likewise higher during the second half of the calendar year as customers stock up on our products for the holiday season. Further, delays in development, licensor approvals, or manufacturing can also affect the timing of the release of our products, causing us to miss key selling periods such as the calendar year end holiday buying season.

We may not be able to adequately adjust our cost structure in a timely fashion in response to a sudden decrease in demand.

        A significant portion of our selling and general and administrative expense is comprised of personnel and facilities. In the event of a significant decline in revenues, we may not be able to exit facilities, reduce personnel, or make other changes to our cost structure without disruption to operations or without significant termination and exit costs. Management may not be able to implement such actions in a timely manner, if at all, to offset an immediate shortfall in revenues and profit.

If we do not continue to attract and retain key personnel, we will be unable to effectively conduct our business.

        Our success depends to a significant extent on our ability to identify, hire, and retain skilled personnel. The software industry is characterized by a high level of employee mobility and aggressive recruiting among competitors for personnel with technical, marketing, sales, product development, and management skills. We may have difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled personnel or may incur significant costs in order to do so. If we are unable to attract additional qualified employees or retain the services of key personnel, our business and financial results could be negatively impacted.

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Our products are subject to the threat of piracy and unauthorized copying, and inadequate intellectual property laws and other protections could prevent us from enforcing or defending our proprietary technologies. We may also face legal risks arising out of user-generated content.

        We regard our software as proprietary and rely on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, and other methods to protect our proprietary rights. We own or license various copyrights, patents, and trademarks. We are aware that some unauthorized copying occurs, and if a significantly greater amount of unauthorized copying of our software products were to occur, it could cause material harm to our business and financial results.

        Policing unauthorized use of our products is difficult, and software piracy is a persistent problem, especially in certain countries. Further, the laws of some countries where our products are or may be distributed either do not protect our products and intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, or are poorly enforced. Legal protection of our rights may be ineffective in such countries. In addition, though we take steps to make the unauthorized copying and distribution of our products more difficult, as do the manufacturers of consoles on which the majority of our games are played, our efforts and those of the console manufacturers may not be successful in controlling the piracy of our products. Organized pirate operations have been expanding globally. In addition, the proliferation of technology designed to circumvent the protection measures used in our products, the availability of broadband access to the Internet, the ability to download pirated copies of our games from various Internet sites and peer-to-peer networks, and the widespread proliferation of Internet cafes using pirated copies of our products, all have contributed to an expansion in piracy. This could have a negative effect on our growth and profitability in the future.

        Moreover, as we leverage our software products using technologies such as the Internet and online services, and as user-generated content increases, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights and to avoid infringing intellectual property rights of others may diminish. We cannot be certain that existing intellectual property laws will provide adequate protection for our products in connection with these emerging technologies.

Data breaches involving the source code for our products or customer or employee data we store could adversely affect our reputation and revenue.

        We store the source code for our interactive entertainment software products as it is created on multiple electronic devices. In addition, we store confidential information with respect to our customers and employees. A breach of the systems on which such source code, account information (including personally identifiable information) and other sensitive data is stored could lead to piracy of our software or fraudulent activity resulting in claims and lawsuits against us in connection with data security breaches. If we are subject to data security breaches, we may have a loss in sales or be forced to pay damages or other amounts, which could materially and adversely affect profitability. In addition, any damage to our reputation resulting from a data breach could have a material adverse impact on either revenue and future growth prospects, or increased costs arising from the implementation of additional security measures.

We may be subject to intellectual property claims.

        As the number of interactive entertainment software products increases and the features and content of these products continue to overlap, software developers increasingly may become subject to infringement claims. Many of our products are highly realistic and feature materials that are based on real world examples, which may be the subject of intellectual property infringement claims of others. In addition, our products often utilize complex, cutting edge technology that may become subject to emerging intellectual property rights of others. Although we believe that we make reasonable efforts to ensure that our products do not violate the intellectual property rights of others, it is possible that third

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parties still may claim infringement. From time to time, we receive communications from third parties regarding such claims. Existing or future infringement claims against us, whether valid or not, may be time consuming, distracting to management and expensive to defend.

        Intellectual property litigation or claims could force us to do one or more of the following:

        Any of these actions may cause material harm to our business and financial results.

Our products are subject to ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating Board and similar agencies. Failure to obtain our target ratings for our products could negatively impact our sales.

        The Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, is a self-regulatory body in the U.S. which provides consumers of interactive entertainment software with ratings information, including information relating to violence, nudity, or sexual content contained in software titles. Certain countries other than the U.S. have also established similar rating systems as prerequisites for product sales in those countries. In some instances, we may be required to modify our products to comply with the requirements of the rating systems, which could delay or disrupt the release of any given product, or may prevent its sale altogether in certain territories. The relevant ESRB ratings include "Everyone" (age 6 and older), "Everyone 10+" (age 10 and older), "Teen" (age 13 and over), or "Mature" (age 17 and over). Certain of our titles have received a "Mature" rating. None of our titles has received the "Adults Only" rating (18 and over). We believe that we comply with rating systems and properly display the ratings and content descriptions received for our titles. If we are unable to obtain the ratings we have targeted for our products as a result of changes in the ESRB's ratings standards or for other reasons, including the adoption of legislation in this area, our business and prospects could be negatively affected.

Our business, products, and distribution are subject to increasing regulation of content in key territories. If we do not successfully respond to these regulations, our business may suffer.

        Legislation is continually being introduced that may affect both the content and the distribution of our products. For example, privacy laws in the United States and Europe impose various restrictions on the collection and storage of personal information. Those laws and regulations vary by territory. In addition, many foreign countries have laws that permit governmental entities to censor the content and/or advertising of interactive entertainment software. Other countries, such as Germany, prohibit certain types of content.

        In the United States, numerous laws have been introduced at the federal and state level which attempt to restrict the content of games or the distribution of such products. For example, legislation has been adopted in several states, and proposed at the federal level, that prohibits the sale of certain games (e.g., violent games or those with "M (Mature)" or "AO (Adults Only)" ratings) to minors. In addition, a number of state legislative bodies in states such as Illinois, California, Michigan, and Washington have introduced various forms of legislation designed to regulate and control sales of video games deemed inappropriate for sales to minors. Some argue that there is a link between video games and violence, which may lead to increased pressure for legislative activity. To date, most courts that have ruled on such legislation have ruled in a manner favorable to the interactive entertainment industry. But in the event such legislation is adopted and enforced, the sales of our products may be

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harmed because the products we are able to offer to our customers and the size of the potential market for our products may be limited. We may also be required to modify certain products or alter our marketing strategies to comply with new and possibly inconsistent regulations, which could be costly or delay the release of our products.

If one or more of our titles were found to contain objectionable undisclosed content, our business could suffer.

        Throughout the history of the interactive entertainment industry, many video games have been designed to include certain hidden content and gameplay features that are accessible through the use of in-game cheat codes or other technological means that are intended to enhance the gameplay experience. However, in some cases, undisclosed content or features have been found in other publishers' interactive entertainment software products. In a few cases, the ESRB has reacted to discoveries of undisclosed content and features by changing the rating that was originally assigned to the product, requiring the publisher to change the game and/or game packaging and/or fining the publisher. Retailers have on occasion reacted to the discovery of such undisclosed content by removing these games from their shelves, refusing to sell them, and demanding that their publishers accept them as product returns. Likewise, interactive entertainment software consumers have reacted to the revelation of undisclosed content by refusing to purchase such games, demanding refunds for games they have already purchased, refraining from buying other games published by the company whose game contained the objectionable material, and, in at least one occasion, filing a lawsuit against the publisher of the product containing such content.

        We have implemented preventive measures designed to reduce the possibility of objectionable undisclosed content from appearing in the video games we publish. Nonetheless, these preventive measures are subject to human error, circumvention, overriding, and reasonable resource constraints. If a video game we published were found to contain undisclosed content, the ESRB could demand that the game be recalled and its packaging changed to reflect a revised rating, retailers could refuse to sell it and demand the acceptance of returns of any unsold copies or returns from customers, and/or consumers could refuse to buy it, demand refunds or file lawsuits against us. This could have a material negative impact on operating results and financial condition. In addition, our reputation could be harmed, which could impact sales of our other video games. If any of these consequences were to occur, our business and financial performance could be significantly harmed.

Our products may be subject to legal claims.

        In prior fiscal years, at least two lawsuits have been filed against numerous video game companies, including against us, by the families of victims who were shot and killed by teenage gunmen in attacks perpetrated at schools. These lawsuits alleged that the video game companies manufactured and/or supplied these teenagers with violent video games, teaching them how to use a gun and causing them to act out in a violent manner. These lawsuits have been dismissed. Similar additional lawsuits may be filed in the future. Although, our general liability insurance carrier agreed to defend prior lawsuits of this nature against us, it is uncertain whether our insurance carrier would do so in the future, or if such insurance carriers would cover all or any amounts for which we might be liable if such future lawsuits are not decided in our favor. If such future lawsuits are filed and ultimately decided against us and our insurance carrier does not cover the amounts for which we may be liable, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results. Payment of significant claims by insurance carriers may make such insurance coverage materially more expensive or unavailable in the future, thereby exposing us to additional risk.

Our business is subject to risks and uncertainties of international trade.

        We conduct business throughout the world, and derive a substantial amount of revenue from international trade, particularly from Europe and Australia. Revenues outside of North America have accounted for 39%, 50% and 52% of our consolidated net revenues in fiscal 2008, 2007 and 2006,

22



respectively. We expect that international revenues will continue to account for a significant portion of total revenues in the future.

        We are subject to risks inherent in foreign trade, including increased tariffs and duties, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, shipping delays, and international political, regulatory and economic developments, all of which may impact our operating margins or make it more difficult, if not impossible, for us to conduct business in foreign markets.

        For example, a deterioration in relations between the U.S. and any country in which we have significant operations or sales could result in the adoption or expansion of trade restrictions that harm our business and operating results, as could the implementation of government regulations in a country in which we have significant operations or sales.

        If government regulations or restrictions prevent us from repatriating internationally derived revenue into the U.S., or a country's tax structure makes repatriation prohibitively expensive, we may not transfer this revenue into the U.S., which could affect our ability to reinvest or utilize such amounts in our business.

        In addition, cultural differences may affect consumer preferences and limit the popularity of titles that are "hits" in the United States. If we do not correctly assess consumer preferences in the countries in our market, our sales and revenue may be lower than expected.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may have a negative impact on our business.

        We transact business in various currencies other than the U.S. dollar and have significant international sales and expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, subjecting us to currency exchange rate risks. We have engaged in limited currency hedging activities and, while these hedging activities mitigate some currency exchange rate risks, our reported revenues from international sales and licensing, and thus our results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected by unfavorable movements in currency exchange rates.

Other Risks Relating to Our Business and Ownership of Our Stock

We seek to manage our business with a view to achieving long-term results, and this could have a negative effect on short-term trading.

        We focus on creation of shareholder value over time, and we intend to make decisions that will be consistent with this long-term view. As a result, some of our decisions, such as whether to make or discontinue operating investments, manage our balance sheet and capital structure, or pursue or discontinue strategic initiatives, may be in conflict with the objectives of short-term traders. Further, this could adversely affect our quarterly or other short-term results of operations.

We may face limitations on our ability to find suitable acquisition opportunities or to integrate additional acquired businesses.

        We intend to pursue additional acquisitions of companies, properties, and other assets that can be purchased or licensed on acceptable terms and which we believe can be operated or exploited profitably. Some of these transactions could be material in size and scope. Although we continue to search for additional acquisition opportunities, we may not be successful in identifying suitable acquisitions. As the interactive entertainment software industry continues to consolidate, we face significant competition in seeking and consummating acquisition opportunities. We may not be able to consummate potential acquisitions or an acquisition may not enhance our business or may decrease rather than increase our earnings. In the future, we may issue additional shares of our common stock in connection with one or more acquisitions, which may dilute our existing shareholders. Future acquisitions could also divert substantial management time and result in short-term reductions in earnings or special transaction, ongoing goodwill amortization or other charges . In addition, we cannot

23



guarantee that we will be able to successfully integrate the businesses that we may acquire into our existing business. Our shareholders may not have the opportunity to review, vote on, or evaluate future acquisitions.

        From time to time, we may make a capital investment and hold a minority interest in a third-party developer in connection with interactive entertainment software products to be developed by such developer for us, which we believe helps to create a closer relationship between us and the developer. We account for those capital investments over which we have the ability to exercise significant influence using the equity method. For those investments over which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence, we account for our investment using the cost method. There can be no assurance that we will realize long-term benefits from such investments or that we will continue to carry such investments at their current value.

Our shareholder rights plan, charter documents, and other agreements may make it more difficult to acquire us without the approval of our Board of Directors.

        We have adopted a shareholder rights plan under which one right entitles the holder to purchase one six-hundredths of a share of our Series A Junior Preferred Stock, as adjusted on account of stock dividends made since the plan's adoption (as so adjusted, one-hundredths (1/100) of a share), at an exercise price of $6.67 per share, as adjusted on account of stock dividends made since the plan's adoption (as so adjusted, $1.11 per share) is attached to each outstanding share of common stock. Such rights only become exercisable if a person or group acquires 15% or more of our common stock (or announces or commences an offer which would result in their owning 15% of the stock) and if such an acquisition occurs, generally each holder of a right may exercise that right for a number of shares of our common stock having a value equal to two times the then-current exercise price of the right (which would currently be $2.22) in lieu of shares of Series A Junior Preferred Stock. This plan therefore makes an acquisition of control in a transaction not approved by our Board of Directors more difficult. The rights plan was amended in connection with the proposed transaction with Vivendi to provide that such transaction will not trigger the rights under the plan and will terminate if and when the transaction is consummated, extinguishing all rights thereunder. However, until such time as the transaction closes the rights plan continues to make it difficult for a company to acquire us without approval of our Board of Directors. In addition, our Amended and Restated By-laws have advance notice provisions for nominations for election of nominees to the Board of Directors which may make it more difficult to acquire control of us. Our long-term incentive plans provide, in the discretion of a committee, for acceleration of stock options following a change in control under certain circumstances, which has the effect of making an acquisition of control more expensive. In addition, some of our officers have severance compensation agreements that provide for substantial cash payments or the acceleration of other benefits in the event of a change in control. These agreements and arrangements may also inhibit a change in control.

Historically, our stock price has been highly volatile.

        The trading price of our common stock has been and could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to many factors, including:

24


        In addition, the public stock markets may experience extreme price and trading volume volatility, particularly in high technology sectors of the market. This volatility has significantly affected the market prices of securities of many technology companies for reasons often unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Changes in our tax rates or exposure to additional tax liabilities could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

        We are subject to income taxes in the United States and in various other jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes and, in the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are required to estimate future taxes. Although we currently believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the estimate process is inherently uncertain, and such estimates are not binding on tax authorities. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in our business, including the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in our tax elections, changes in applicable tax laws as well as other factors. Further, tax determinations are regularly subject to audit by tax authorities and developments in those audits could adversely affect our income tax provision. Should our ultimate tax liability exceed estimates, our income tax provision and net income could be materially affected.

        We are also required to pay taxes other than income taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property, and goods and services taxes, in both the United States and various other jurisdictions. Tax authorities regularly examine these non-income taxes. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from these examinations, changes in our business or changes in applicable tax rules will not have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

SEC investigation and litigation relating to stock options remain pending and may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

        Although the special subcommittee of independent members of our board of directors established in July 2006 to review our historical stock option granting practices, which we refer to as the special subcommittee, has completed its review of those practices and our stock option grants made in the period between 1992 and 2006, and although we have made to the SEC Staff an offer of settlement of the SEC's formal investigation relating to our stock option granting practices, which the SEC Staff has indicated it is prepared to recommend to the SEC, and have agreed to a settlement of the derivative litigation against us and certain of our current and former directors and officers, the settlement with the SEC remains subject to final documentation and then approval by the Commission and the settlement of the derivative litigation remain subject to final court approval. We believe that we have taken appropriate action by restating our financial statements through the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, as filed in our amended Annual Report on Form 10-K/A on May 25, 2007, and made appropriate disclosures for matters relating to stock options. If, however, the pending settlements are not approved,

25



the SEC could institute enforcement action seeking other or additional relief or the court in the derivative actions could make findings disagreeing with the findings of the special subcommittee or with the manner in which we have accounted for and reported, or not reported, the financial impact of past option grant measurement date errors. If so, we could be required to further restate our prior financial statements, further amend our filings with the SEC, or take other actions not currently contemplated. In addition, additional proceedings would be likely to result in additional legal expense that may affect our results in future periods, and may also result in diversion of management attention and other resources, as well as fines, penalties, damages and other sanctions against the company or individual directors and officers. These eventualities could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. We cannot currently predict the ultimate outcome of these proceedings.

Our investments in auction rate securities are subject to risks that may have an adverse effect on our liquidity.

        As of March 31, 2008, the par value of our investment in auction rate securities was $95.2 million, or approximately 6%, of our cash, cash equivalents and investments, and the fair value of these securities was estimated to be $90.9 million, or $4.3 million below par. The change in fair value was recorded as a component of comprehensive income (loss) in the consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity, as the decline in fair value is not considered to be "other-than-temporary". The auction rate securities we currently hold are all long term debt obligations secured by student loans, and they carry a "AAA" credit rating—the highest rating given to securities—by a nationally recognized rating agency.

        Liquidity for these auction rate securities is typically provided by an auction process which allows holders to sell their notes and resets the applicable interest rate at pre-determined intervals, usually every 7 to 35 days. Each of the auction rate securities in our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2008 has experienced a failed auction. There is no assurance that future auctions for these securities will succeed. An auction failure means that the parties wishing to sell their securities could not be matched with an adequate volume of buyers. In the event that there is a failed auction, the indenture governing the security requires the issuer to pay interest at a contractually defined rate that is generally above market rates for other types of similar short-term instruments. The securities for which auctions have failed will continue to earn interest at the contractual rate and be auctioned every 7 to 35 days until the auction succeeds, the issuer calls the securities or they mature. As a result, our ability to liquidate and fully recover the carrying value of our auction rate securities in the near term may be limited or not exist. All of our investments were classified as short-term as of December 31, 2007, because such securities were reasonably expected to be realized in cash or sold or consumed during the normal operating cycle of the business, however we have classified these securities as non-current investments in our consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2008 due to uncertainties of the timing of liquidation.

        If the issuers of these auction rate securities are unable to successfully close future auctions, their credit ratings deteriorate and we determine that an "other-than-temporary" decline in fair market value has occurred, we may in the future be required to record an impairment charge on these investments. We believe we will be able to liquidate our investment without significant loss, and we currently believe these securities are not significantly impaired, primarily due to the government guarantee of a substantial portion of the underlying loans, however, it could take until the final maturity of the underlying notes (up to 39 years) to realize our investments' par value. Based on our other available cash and expected operating cash flows and financing, we do not anticipate the potential lack of liquidity on these investments will affect our ability to execute our current business plan or to consummate the proposed post-closing self tender offer described in Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Additionally, we have received indications from certain lenders that we may borrow against the par value of the securities at competitive rates.

Item 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

        None.

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Item 2.    PROPERTIES

        Our principal corporate and administrative offices are located in approximately 122,200 square feet of leased space in a building located at 3100 Ocean Park Boulevard, Santa Monica, California 90405. The following is a listing of the principal offices maintained by us:

PROPERTY

  LOCATION
  SQ FT
  OWNERSHIP
  LEASE EXPIRATION
Corporate Offices   Santa Monica, CA, USA   122,200   Lease   December 2010

Product Development & Publishing Facilities (Publishing Segment)

 

 

Activision Canada

 

Ontario, Canada

 

2,400

 

Lease

 

October 2012
Beenox, Inc.    Quebec City, Quebec, Canada   18,500   Lease   August 2008 + January 2010
Bizarre Creations   Merseyside, UK   24,000   Lease   June 2020
China   Shanghai, China   1,400   Lease   Month to Month + June 2008
DemonWare   Dublin, Ireland   11,194   Lease   June 2027
DemonWare   Vancouver, BC, Canada   400   Lease   June 2008
Infinity Ward, Inc.    Encino, CA, USA   35,300   Lease   October 2012
Luxoflux, Inc.    Santa Monica, CA, USA   14,800   Lease   January 2009
Motion Capture Studio   Los Angeles, CA, USA   11,500   Lease   March 2009
Neversoft Entertainment, Inc.    Woodland Hills, CA, USA   53,300   Lease   September 2014
Quality Assurance   Quebec City, Quebec, Canada   6,200   Lease   July 2008 + August 2008
Raven Studios   Middleton, WI, USA   35,300   Lease   June 2015
RedOctane   Chennai, India   6,500   Lease   July 2008 + February 2009
Shaba Games, Inc.    San Francisco, CA, USA   23,300   Lease   February 2013
Toys For Bob, Inc.    Novato, CA, USA   11,800   Lease   October 2012
Treyarch Corporation   Santa Monica, CA, USA   56,200   Lease   November 2009
Vicarious Visions, Inc.    Menands, NY, USA   37,100   Lease   March 2016
Underground   Foster City, CA, USA   24,000   Lease   February 2009
Amsterdam Publishing   Amsterdam, the Netherlands   4,000   Lease   June 2012
Australia Publishing   Sydney, Australia   7,300   Lease   June 2012
France Publishing   Paris, France   5,600   Lease   August 2016
Italy Publishing   Legnano, Italy   4,700   Lease   March 2013
Japan Publishing   Tokyo, Japan   2,200   Lease   March 2009
Korea Publishing   Seoul, South Korea   1,700   Lease   August 2008
Nordic Publishing   Stockholm, Sweden   3,500   Lease   July 2010
RedOctane   Mountain View, CA, USA   13,900   Lease   October 2012
Spain Publishing   Madrid, Spain   3,400   Lease   April 2009
United Kingdom Publishing   Stockley Park, UK   15,000   Lease   September 2015
Value Publishing   Eden Prairie, MN, USA   14,000   Lease   May 2008

Distribution Facilities (Distribution Segment)

 

 

German Distribution

 

Burglengenfeld, Germany

 

43,100

 

Own

 

N/A
Netherlands Distribution-warehouse   Venlo, the Netherlands   44,600   Own   N/A
United Kingdom Distribution   Birmingham, UK   415,000   Lease   May 2011-2018

        Our publishing operations additionally lease facilities in Arkansas, Canada, Minnesota, New York, and Texas for purposes of sales and branch offices.

Item 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

        On February 8, 2008, the Wayne County Employees' Retirement System filed a lawsuit challenging the transactions contemplated by the business combination agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, among us, a wholly owned subsidiary of ours established in connection with the proposed transaction, Vivendi, S.A., Vivendi Games, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi, S.A., and VGAC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi, S.A., and the sole stockholder of Vivendi Games, Inc. The suit is a putative class action filed against the parties to that business combination agreement as well as certain members of our Board of Directors. The plaintiff alleges, among other things, that our directors named therein failed to fulfill their fiduciary duties with regard to the transactions by "surrendering" the negotiating process to "conflicted management," that those breaches were aided and abetted by Vivendi, S.A., and those of its subsidiaries named in the complaint, and that a preliminary proxy

27



statement contains certain statements that the plaintiff alleges are false and misleading. The plaintiff seeks an order from the court that, among other things, certifies the case as a class action, enjoins the transaction, requires the defendants to disclose all material information, declares that the transaction is in breach of the directors' fiduciary duties and therefore unlawful and unenforceable, awards the plaintiff and the putative class damages for all profits and special benefits obtained by the defendant in connection with the transaction and tender offer, and awards the plaintiff its cost and expense, including attorney's fees.

        In a ruling on March 12, 2008, the court initially declined to schedule a preliminary injunction hearing or allow broad discovery, pending the Company's filing of a revised preliminary proxy statement in connection with the proposed transactions. The court did order the parties to initiate discovery of core documents, and the Company made an initial production of documents. On March 7, 2008, the Company filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, the grounds for which were detailed in a brief filed on April 30, 2008. On April 30, 2008, the Company also filed a motion to stay discovery in the case pending a ruling on the motion to dismiss. Separately, on March 6, 2008, Vivendi, S.A., and those of its subsidiaries named in the complaint filed a motion to dismiss the sole claim alleged against them.

        On May 8, 2008, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint that, among other things, added allegations relating to a revised preliminary proxy statement filed by the Company on April 30, 2008. That same date, the plaintiff also renewed its motion for expedited proceedings. On May 13, 2008, the Company moved to dismiss the amended complaint. On May 14, 2008, Vivendi and its subsidiaries named in the amended complaint also moved to dismiss. On May 22, 2008, the court scheduled a combined hearing for June 30, 2008 on the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and the defendants' motions to dismiss, but withheld a ruling on the plaintiff's motion for expedited discovery, pending further briefing. On May 28, 2008, the court ordered that expedited discovery proceed as to certain claims and that final briefing on the motions to be heard on June 30, 2008 be filed with the court on June 27, 2008.

        In July 2006, individuals and/or entities claiming to be our stockholders filed derivative lawsuits, purportedly on our behalf, against certain current and former members of our Board of Directors as well as several of our current and former officers. Three derivative actions have been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court: Vazquez v. Kotick, et al ., L.A.S.C. Case No. BC355327 (filed July 12, 2006); Greuer v. Kotick, et al. L.A.S.C. Case No. SC090343 (filed July 12, 2006); and Amalgamated Bank v. Baker, et al., L.A.S.C. Case No. BC356454 (filed August 3, 2006). These actions have been consolidated by the court under the caption In re Activision Shareholder Derivative Litigation, L.A.S.C. Master File No. SC090343 (West, J.). Four derivative actions have been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California: Pfeiffer v. Kotick, et al., C.D. Cal. Case No. CV06-4771 MRP (JTLx) (filed July 31, 2006), Hamian v. Kotick, et al., C.D. Cal. Case No. CV06-5375 MRP (JLTx) (filed August 25, 2006) Abdelnur vs. Kotick et al., C.D. Cal. Case No. CV07-3575 AHM (PJWx) (filed June 1, 2007), and Scarborough v. Kotick et al., C.D. Cal. Case No. CV07-4602 SVW (PLAx) (filed July 18, 2007). These actions have also been consolidated, under the caption In re Activision, Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, C.D. Cal. Case No. CV06-4771 MRP (JTLx) (Pfaelzer, J.). The consolidated complaints allege, among other things, purported improprieties in our issuance of stock options. Plaintiffs seek various relief on our behalf, including damages, restitution of benefits obtained from the alleged misconduct, equitable relief, including an accounting and rescission of option contracts; and various corporate governance reforms. We expect that defense expenses associated with the matters will be covered by our directors and officers insurance, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable policies.

        On or about December 4, 2007, we, the plaintiffs, and certain of our current and former officers and directors notified the court in the federal action that we had reached agreement in principle to settle the shareholder derivative litigation pending against such current and former directors and officers of ours. On January 17, 2008, the parties amended that agreement to, among other things,

28



include the plaintiffs in the state court action as parties thereto. The nonbinding agreement in principle was subject, among other things, to the negotiation of a binding definitive settlement agreement addressing all settlement terms, as well as to further approval by the parties and the court.

        Effective as of May 8, 2008, the parties signed a Stipulation of Settlement with respect to these matters. In entering into the Stipulation of Settlement, neither we nor any of the settling parties has admitted to any liability or wrongdoing. Under the terms of the Stipulation of Settlement, which is subject to court approval, we will adopt, implement and/or maintain certain corporate governance and internal control measures, relating principally to the following: board composition, structure and practices, director independence standards, stock ownership and compensation, and education; shareholder proposal evaluation process; nomination procedures for shareholder-nominated directors; shareholder meeting procedures; executive compensation policies and procedures; insider trading controls; and stock option granting procedures. We have agreed to keep these measures in place for a period of three years, subject to certain exceptions. The Stipulation of Settlement also addresses matters relating to the agreements by certain of our current and former directors and officers to reimburse the Company in connection with the receipt of options that required measurement date corrections. In the case of options already exercised, the agreements allowed reimbursement to be made either by cancellation of vested but unexercised options with a value equivalent to the additional exercise price or by payment of additional exercise price. In the case of options not yet exercised, the exercise price to be paid upon future exercise of those options is increased. In the aggregate, settling defendants have elected to cancel options to acquire approximately 800,000 shares of our common stock and have agreed to increases in the exercise prices of approximately 16.1 million options. In addition, the Stipulation of Settlement provides for us to pay $10,000,000 to plaintiffs' attorneys for their fees and expenses, subject to court approval of such fees and expenses and subject to our reservation of all rights against our D&O insurance carriers, reinsurers and co-insurers. The Stipulation of Settlement provides that plaintiffs' attorneys will also be entitled to 15% (up to $750,000) of any payment made by our insurance carriers to us in connection with the settlement. We have not reached agreements with our insurers related to the settlement. The stipulation also provides for the forgiveness of approximately $2.3 million in legal fees previously billed to us by former outside corporate counsel.

        The Stipulation of Settlement was filed in federal court on May 12, 2008 and was preliminarily approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by order dated May 13, 2008 and entered on May 14, 2008. The settlement is subject to final court approval after notice and a hearing at which shareholders will have the opportunity to object, which is currently scheduled to be held on July 21, 2008. The court will then decide whether to approve the settlement as fair, adequate and in the best interest of our stockholders. While we believe that the settlement meets these criteria, there can be no guarantee that the settlement will receive the required court approval. If final approval is granted, all claims against all defendants in the litigation will be dismissed with prejudice, and all claims that were or could have been brought by any derivative plaintiff, and all claims that arise from or relate to the matters or occurrences that were or could have been alleged in the federal and state derivative actions, will be fully, finally and forever released. The individual settling defendants make no admission of wrongdoing under the Stipulation of Settlement, and they have denied (and continue to deny) all charges of wrongdoing and liability and each and all of the claims and contentions alleged in the derivative actions.

        On July 24, 2006, we received a letter of informal inquiry from the SEC requesting certain documents and information relating to our historical stock option grant practices. Thereafter, in early June 2007, the SEC issued a formal order of non-public investigation, pursuant to which it subpoenaed documents from us related to the investigation, and testimony and documents from certain current and former directors, officers and employees of ours. The Company has made an offer of settlement to the Staff of the SEC, which the SEC Staff has indicated it is prepared to recommend to the SEC. The tentative settlement of the SEC's investigation, which would allege violations of various provisions of the Federal securities laws, is subject to agreement on the specific language of the settlement

29



documents, and then to review and approval by the SEC. There can be no assurance that a final settlement will be approved. In connection with the proposed settlement, the Company would not be required to pay a monetary penalty. Under the proposed settlement, the Company would settle this matter without admitting or denying the SEC's findings.

        In addition, we are party to other routine claims and suits brought by us and against us in the ordinary course of business, including disputes arising over the ownership of intellectual property rights, contractual claims, employment laws, regulations and relationships, and collection matters. In the opinion of management, after consultation with legal counsel, the outcome of such routine claims and lawsuits will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity.

Item 4.    SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

        None.

30



PART II

Item 5.    MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

        Our common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "ATVI."

        The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low reported sale prices for our common stock. As of May 20, 2008, there were approximately 2,045 holders of record of our common stock.

 
  High
  Low
Fiscal 2007            
First Quarter ended June 30, 2006   $ 15.11   $ 10.71
Second Quarter ended September 30, 2006     16.00     10.47
Third Quarter ended December 31, 2006     18.19     14.22
Fourth Quarter ended March 31, 2007     19.20     16.05

Fiscal 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 
First Quarter ended June 30, 2007   $ 21.43   $ 18.16
Second Quarter ended September 30, 2007     21.91     16.94
Third Quarter ended December 31, 2007     29.87     18.81
Fourth Quarter ended March 31, 2008     29.76     25.11

        On May 20, 2008, the last reported sales price of our common stock was $32.68.

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Stock Performance Graph

        This performance graph shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act of or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Activision, Inc. under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

        The graph below compares the cumulative 5-year total return of holders of Activision, Inc.'s common stock with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index and the RDG Technology Composite index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each of the indexes (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from March 31, 2003 to March 31, 2008. We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and have no present plans to do so.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEARS CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Activision, Inc., The NASDAQ Composite Index
And The RDG Technology Composite Index

GRAPHIC


*
$100 invested on March 31, 2003 in stock or index-including reinvestment of dividends.
Fiscal year ending March 31,

 
  2003
  2004
  2005
  2006
  2007
  2008
Activision, Inc.   100.00   246.33   307.27   381.73   524.29   755.99
NASDAQ Composite   100.00   151.01   152.38   181.06   189.63   177.49
RDG Technology Composite   100.00   149.02   144.21   170.59   175.88   168.47

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

Cash Dividends

        We paid no cash dividends in our fiscal years 2008 or 2007 nor do we anticipate paying any cash dividends at any time in the foreseeable future. We expect that earnings will be retained for the continued growth and development of the business. Future dividends, if any, will depend upon our earnings, financial condition, cash requirements, future prospects, and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

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Stock Splits

        In April 2003, the Board of Directors approved a three-for-two split of our outstanding common shares effected in the form of a 50% stock dividend. The split was paid on June 6, 2003 to shareholders of record as of May 16, 2003. In February 2004, the Board of Directors approved a second three-for-two split of our outstanding common shares effected in the form of a 50% stock dividend. The split was paid on March 15, 2004 to shareholders of record as of February 23, 2004. In February 2005, the Board of Directors approved a four-for-three split of our outstanding common shares effected in the form of a 331/3% stock dividend. The split was paid on March 22, 2005 to shareholders of record as of March 7, 2005. In September 2005, the Board of Directors approved a four-for-three split of our outstanding common shares effected in the form of a 331/3% stock dividend. The split was paid October 24, 2005 to shareholders of record as of October 10, 2005. The par value of our common stock was maintained at the pre-split amount of $.000001. All share and per share data have been restated as if the stock splits had occurred as of the earliest period presented.

        On March 7, 2005, in connection with our March 22, 2005 stock split, all shares of common stock held as treasury stock were formally cancelled and restored to the status of authorized but unissued shares of common stock.

Buyback Program

        During fiscal 2003, our Board of Directors authorized a buyback program under which we can repurchase up to $350.0 million of our common stock. Under the program, shares may be purchased as determined by management, from time to time and within certain guidelines, in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, including privately negotiated structured stock repurchase transactions and through transactions in the options markets. Depending on market conditions and other factors, these purchases may be commenced or suspended at any time or from time to time without prior notice.

        Under the buyback program, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2008, 2007, 2006 or 2005. We repurchased approximately 3.4 million shares of our common stock for $12.4 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. In addition, approximately 3.1 million shares of common stock were acquired in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004 as a result of the settlement of $10.0 million of structured stock repurchase transactions entered into in fiscal 2003. As of March 31, 2008, we had no outstanding structured stock repurchase transactions. Structured stock repurchase transactions are settled in cash or stock based on the market price of our common stock on the date of the settlement. Upon settlement, we either have our capital investment returned with a premium or receive shares of our common stock, depending, respectively, on whether the market price of our common stock is above or below a pre-determined price agreed in connection with each such transaction.

Shareholders' Rights Plan

        On April 18, 2000, our Board of Directors approved a shareholders rights plan (the "Rights Plan.") Under the Rights Plan, each common shareholder at the close of business on April 19, 2000 received a dividend of one right for each share of common stock held. Each right represents the right to purchase one six-hundredths (1/600) of a share, as adjusted on account of stock dividends made since the plan's adoption, of our Series A Junior Preferred Stock at an exercise price of $6.67, as adjusted on account of stock dividends made since the plan's adoption. Initially, the rights are represented by our common stock certificates and are neither exercisable nor traded separately from our common stock. The rights will only become exercisable if a person or group acquires 15% or more of the common stock of Activision, or announces or commences a tender or exchange offer which would result in the bidder's beneficial ownership of 15% or more of our common stock.

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        In the event that any person or group acquires 15% or more of our outstanding common stock, each holder of a right (other than such person or members of such group) will thereafter have the right to receive upon exercise of such right, in lieu of shares of Series A Junior Preferred Stock, the number of shares of common stock of Activision having a value equal to two times the then current exercise price of the right. If we are acquired in a merger or other business combination transaction after a person has acquired 15% or more of our common stock, each holder of a right will thereafter have the right to receive upon exercise of such right a number of the acquiring company's common shares having a market value equal to two times the then current exercise price of the right. For persons who, as of the close of business on April 18, 2000, beneficially own 15% or more of the common stock of Activision, the Rights Plan "grandfathers" their current level of ownership, so long as they do not purchase additional shares in excess of certain limitations.

        We may redeem the rights for $0.01 per right at any time until the first public announcement of the acquisition of beneficial ownership of 15% of our common stock. At any time after a person has acquired 15% or more (but before any person has acquired more than 50%) of our common stock, we may exchange all or part of the rights for shares of common stock at an exchange ratio of one share of common stock per right. The rights expire on April 18, 2010.

        We amended the Rights Plan concurrent with the execution of the business combination agreement with Vivendi (see Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8) to provide that (a) the Rights Plan will not be triggered by the business combination agreement or the transaction and (b) the Rights Plan will terminate upon the completion of the transaction and all rights existing under the Rights Plan will be extinguished.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

        Information for our equity compensation plans in effect as of March 31, 2008 is as follows (amounts in thousands, except per share amounts):

Plan Category

  (a)
Number of securities
to be issued upon
exercise of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights

  (b)
Weighted-average
exercise price of
outstanding
options, warrants
and rights

  (c)
Number of securities
remaining available for
future issuance under
equity compensation
plans (excluding
securities reflected in
column (a))

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders   40,871   $ 12.68   16,118
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders   9,581   $ 2.46  
   
       
  Total   50,452         16,118

        See Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 for the material features of each equity compensation plan that was adopted without security holder approval.

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Item 6.    SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

        The following table summarizes certain selected consolidated financial data, which should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto and with Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included elsewhere herein. The selected consolidated financial data presented below as of and for each of the fiscal years in the five-year period ended March 31, 2008 are derived from our Consolidated Financial Statements. The Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2008 and 2007 and the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for each of the fiscal years in the three-year period ended March 31, 2008, and the report thereon, are included elsewhere in this Form 10-K (amounts in thousands, except per share data).

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
 
 
  2008
  2007
  2006
  2005
  2004
 
Statement of Operations Data:                                

Net revenues

 

$

2,898,136

 

$

1,513,012

 

$

1,468,000

 

$

1,405,857

 

$

947,656

 
Cost of sales—product costs     1,240,605     799,587     734,874     658,949     475,541  
Cost of sales—intellectual property licenses and software royalties and amortization     404,830     178,478     205,488     185,997     91,606  
Income from operations     479,614     73,147     15,226     179,608     104,537  
Income before income tax provision     530,868     109,825     45,856     192,700     110,712  
Net income     344,883     85,787     40,251     135,057     74,098  
Basic earnings per share(1)     1.19     0.31     0.15     0.54     0.31  
Diluted earnings per share(1)     1.10     0.28     0.14     0.49     0.29  
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding(1)     288,957     281,114     273,177     250,023     236,887  
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding(1)     314,731     305,339     294,002     277,712     258,350  

Net Cash Provided By (Used In):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating activities

 

 

573,500

 

 

27,162

 

 

86,007

 

 

215,309

 

 

67,403

 
Investing activities     326,291     (35,242 )   (85,796 )   (143,896 )   (170,155 )
Financing activities     105,163     27,968     45,088     72,654     117,569  
 
 
  As of March 31,
 
  2008
  2007
  2006
  2005
  2004
Balance Sheet Data:                              

Working capital

 

$

1,423,324

 

$

1,060,064

 

$

922,199

 

$

913,819

 

$

675,796
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments     1,449,212     954,849     944,960     840,864     587,649
Capitalized software development and intellectual property licenses     193,337     231,196     147,665     127,340     135,201
Long-term investments     91,215                
Goodwill     279,161     195,374     100,446     91,661     76,493
Total assets     2,530,673     1,793,947     1,418,255     1,305,919     966,220
Shareholders' equity     1,947,892     1,411,532     1,222,623     1,097,274     830,141

(1)
Consolidated financial information for fiscal years 2005 and 2004 has been restated for the effect of our four-for-three stock split effected in the form of a 331/3% stock dividend to shareholders of record as of October 10, 2005, paid October 24, 2005.

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Item 7.    MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

Our Business

        We are a leading international publisher of interactive entertainment software products. We have built a company with a diverse portfolio of products that spans a wide range of categories and target markets and that are used on a variety of game hardware platforms and operating systems. We have created, licensed, and acquired a group of highly recognizable franchises, which we market to a variety of consumer demographics. Our fiscal 2008 product portfolio includes titles such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero II for the Microsoft Xbox360, Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s for the PS2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3 The Game ("Spider-Man 3"), Shrek the Third, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Bee Movie Game, and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.

        Our products cover diverse game categories including action/adventure, action sports, racing, role-playing, simulation, first-person action, music-based gaming, and strategy. Our target customer base ranges from casual players to game enthusiasts, children to adults, and mass-market consumers to "value" buyers. We currently offer our products primarily in versions that operate on the Sony PlayStation 2 ("PS2"), the Sony PlayStation 3 ("PS3"), the Nintendo Wii ("Wii"), and the Microsoft Xbox360 ("Xbox360") console systems, the Nintendo Dual Screen ("NDS"), and the Sony PlayStation Portable ("PSP") hand-held devices, and the personal computer ("PC"). The installed base for the previous generation of hardware platforms (e.g., the PS2) is significant and the fiscal 2006 release of the Xbox360 and the fiscal 2007 releases of the PS3 and the Wii have further expanded the software market. To take advantage of the growth of the PS3, the Xbox360, and the Wii ("the next-generation platforms"), during fiscal 2008, we increased our presence on the next-generation platforms through the increased number of new released titles on the next-generation platforms. For example, the number of new released titles for the Wii tripled from 5 releases during fiscal 2007 to 15 releases, and we successfully released several major titles for the PS3, the Xbox360 and/or the Wii—Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Some of these titles are also available on the PS2. Our plan is to continue to build a significant presence on the PS3, the Wii, and the Xbox360 ("the next-generation platforms") by continuing to expand the number of titles released on the next-generation and hand-held platforms while continuing to market to the PS2 platform as long as economically attractive given its large installed base.

        Our publishing business involves the development, marketing, and sale of products directly, by license, or through our affiliate label program with certain third-party publishers. In North America, we primarily sell our products on a direct basis to mass-market retailers, consumer electronics stores, discount warehouses, and game specialty stores. We conduct our international publishing activities through offices in the United Kingdom ("UK"), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Japan. Our products are sold internationally on a direct-to-retail basis, through third-party distribution and licensing arrangements, and through our wholly owned European distribution subsidiaries. Our distribution business consists of operations located in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany that provide logistical and sales services to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations, and manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware.

        Our profitability is directly affected by the mix of revenues from our publishing and distribution businesses. Operating margins realized from our publishing business are typically substantially higher than margins realized from our distribution business. Operating margins in our publishing business are affected by our ability to release highly successful or "hit" titles. Though many of these titles have substantial production or acquisition costs and marketing budgets, once a title recoups these costs,

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incremental net revenues directly and positively impact our operating margin. Operating margins in our distribution business are affected by the mix of hardware and software sales, with software typically producing higher margins than hardware.

Our Focus

        With respect to future game development, we will continue to focus on our "big propositions" products that are backed by strong franchises and high quality development, for which we will provide significant marketing support.

        We have focused on establishing and maintaining relationships with talented and experienced software development and publishing teams. In June 2006, we acquired RedOctane, Inc. ("RedOctane"), the publisher of the popular Guitar Hero franchise. The Guitar Hero franchise has set an industry record, surpassing $1 billion in North America retail sales in 26 months, according to The NPD Group, which is a provider of consumer and retail market research information for a wide range of industries. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the number one best-selling game in dollars in the U.S. and Europe for fiscal 2008, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk. We plan on continuing to build on this franchise by investing in the future development of Guitar Hero titles across a variety of platforms. We have also been successful in the first person action categories through the Call of Duty original franchise, which we plan on continuing as a successful long-term franchise. Call of Duty has achieved over $1 billion life-to-date net revenues in fiscal 2008. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ended the fiscal year as the number two best-selling game worldwide in dollars, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk. In September 2007, we acquired U.K.-based video game developer Bizarre Creations Limited ("Bizarre Creations"), a leader in the racing category. With more than 10 years of experience in the racing genre, Bizarre Creations developed the innovative multi-million unit selling franchise, Project Gotham Racing for Microsoft, a critically-acclaimed series for the Xbox and Xbox360. Bizarre Creations and its games have won numerous industry awards including: Best Racing Game for Project Gotham Racing 2 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA); the Industry Grand Prix Award from Develop; MCV's UK Development Team 2006 award; Best Racing/Driving Game from IGN; Game of the Year from OXM and Gamespy for Project Gotham Racing 3; and IGN's Best Xbox Live Arcade ("XBLA") Game for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Bizarre Creations will play a role in our growth strategy as we develop new intellectual property for the racing segment, expand our development capability and capacity for other genres and utilize Bizarre Creations' proprietary development technology. We also have development agreements with other top-level, third-party developers such as id Software, Inc., Splash Damage, Ltd., and Next Level Games.

        Our fiscal 2008 releases include well-established franchises, which are backed by high-profile intellectual property and/or highly anticipated motion picture releases. For example, we have a long-term relationship with Marvel Entertainment, Inc. through an exclusive licensing agreement for the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises through 2017. This agreement grants us the exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and publish video games based on Marvel's comic book franchises: Spider-Man and X-Men. In addition, we have an agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising, LP which grants us exclusive, worldwide rights to publish video games based on subsequent Spider-Man feature films through 2017. Through March 31, 2008, games based on the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises have generated approximately $1.1 billion in net revenues worldwide. Under this agreement, in the first quarter fiscal 2007 we released the video game, X-Men: The Official Game coinciding with the theatrical release of X-Men: The Last Stand. In the third quarter fiscal 2007, we released Marvel: Ultimate Alliance across multiple platforms and Spider-Man: Battle for New York on the NDS and the GBA. In the first quarter fiscal 2008, we released Spider-Man 3 based on Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment, Inc.'s feature film "Spider-Man 3," which was released in May 2007. We also released Spider-Man: Friend or Foe in the third quarter fiscal 2008.

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        We also have an exclusive licensing agreement with professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. The agreement grants us exclusive rights to develop and publish video games through 2015 using Tony Hawk's name and likeness. Through March 31, 2008, we have released nine titles in the Tony Hawk franchise with cumulative net revenues of $1.3 billion, including the fiscal 2008 third quarter release, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, which was released on the PS3, the PS2, the Wii, the Xbox360 and the NDS.

        We will also continue to evaluate and exploit emerging franchises that we believe have potential to become successful game franchises. For example, we have multi-year, multi-property, agreements with DreamWorks Animation LLC that grant us the exclusive rights to publish video games based on DreamWorks Animation SKG's theatrical releases, including "Shark Tale," which was released in the second quarter fiscal 2005, "Madagascar," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2006, "Over the Hedge," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2007, "Shrek the Third," which was released in the first quarter fiscal 2008, "Bee Movie," which was released in the third quarter fiscal 2008, and all of their respective sequels. In addition, our multi-year agreements with DreamWorks Animation LLC also grant us the exclusive video game rights to three upcoming DreamWorks Animation feature films, including "Kung Fu Panda," "Monsters vs Aliens" and "How to Train Your Dragon." We plan to release Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, and Madagascar 2 during fiscal 2009.

        Additionally, we have a strategic alliance with Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. that grants us the exclusive, worldwide interactive rights to develop and publish "World Series of Poker" video games based on the popular World Series of Poker Tournament. In the second quarter fiscal 2006, we released our first title under this alliance, World Series of Poker, which became the number one poker title of calendar year 2005. Further building on this franchise, in the second quarter fiscal 2007, we released our second title under this alliance, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions. Additionally, we released our third title under this alliance, World Series of Poker: Battle for the Bracelet in the second quarter fiscal 2008.

        We also continue to build on our portfolio of licensed intellectual property. In February 2006, we signed an agreement with Hasbro Properties Group granting us the exclusive global rights (excluding Japan) to develop console, hand-held, and PC games based on Hasbro's "Transformers" franchise. We released our first "Transformers" game, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, in late June 2007 concurrently with the early July 2007 movie release of the live action "Transformers" film from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. In April 2006, we signed an agreement with MGM Interactive and EON Productions Ltd. granting us the exclusive rights to develop and publish video games based on the James Bond license through 2014. We plan to release our first James Bond title, Quantum of Solace, during fiscal 2009.

        In April 2006, we signed a multi-year agreement with Mattel, Inc. which grants us the exclusive, worldwide distribution rights for the catalog of video games based on Mattel, Inc.'s Barbie franchise on all platforms. Through the third quarter fiscal 2007, we distributed six Barbie titles: Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery, Barbie Fashion Show, Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. Based on the success of this distribution, we signed multi-year license agreements with Mattel, Inc. in January 2007 which grant us the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and publish new video games based on Mattel Inc.'s Barbie and Hot Wheels franchises on all platforms. In the second quarter fiscal 2008, we released Hot Wheels: Beat That!. In September 2006, we entered into a distribution agreement with MTV Networks Kids and Family Group's Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom Inc., to be the exclusive distributor of three new Nick Jr. PC CD-ROM titles, published by Nickelodeon and based on the top preschool series on commercial television, Dora The Explorer, The Backyardigans, and Go, Diego, Go!

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        We are utilizing these developer relationships, new intellectual property acquisitions, new original intellectual property creations, and our existing library of intellectual property to further focus our game development on product lines that will deliver significant, lasting, and recurring revenues and operating profits.

Business Combination

        On December 2, 2007, we and Vivendi S.A. ("Vivendi") announced an agreement to combine Vivendi Games, Inc. ("Vivendi Games,") Vivendi's interactive entertainment business which includes Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., the creator of World of Warcraft, a massively multi-player online role-playing game ("MMORPG") franchise, with us. If the transaction closes, we will be renamed Activision Blizzard, Inc. ("Activision Blizzard") and we expect to continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI.

        All information included in this report reflects only Activision's results, and does not reflect any impact of the proposed combination. The forward-looking comments in this Management's Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations are prepared on an Activision standalone basis, without considering any potential impacts of the proposed business combination with Vivendi Games.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

        We have identified the policies below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our financial results. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations are discussed throughout Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations where such policies affect our reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion of the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

        Revenue Recognition.    We recognize revenue from the sale of our products upon the transfer of title and risk of loss to our customers, and once any performance obligations have been completed. Certain products are sold to customers with a street date (the earliest date these products may be sold by retailers). For these products we recognize revenue on the later of the street date or the sale date. Revenue from product sales is recognized after deducting the estimated allowance for returns and price protection. With respect to license agreements that provide customers the right to make multiple copies in exchange for guaranteed amounts, revenue is recognized upon delivery of a master copy. Per copy royalties on sales that exceed the guarantee are recognized as earned.

        Some of our software products provide limited online features at no additional cost to the consumer. Generally, we consider such features to be incidental to the overall product offering and an inconsequential deliverable. Accordingly, we do not defer any revenue related to products containing these limited online features. In instances where online features or additional functionality is considered a substantive deliverable in addition to the software product, we take this into account when applying our revenue recognition policy. This evaluation is performed for each software product when it is released. We determined that one of our software titles, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (which is primarily an online multiplayer PC game), contains online functionality that constitutes a more-than-inconsequential separate service deliverable in addition to the product, principally because of its importance to game play. As such, our performance obligations for this title extend beyond the sale of the game, which is unique compared to other previously released titles. Vendor-specific objective

39



evidence of fair value ("VSOE") does not exist for the online functionality, as we do not separately charge for this component of the title. As a result, we are recognizing all of the revenue from the sale of this title ratably over an estimated service period, which is currently estimated to be six months beginning the month after shipment. In addition, we are deferring the costs of sales for this title. Cost of sales includes: manufacturing costs, software royalties and amortization, and intellectual property licenses. Overall, online play functionality is still an emerging area for us.

        We continue to monitor the development of online functionality (together with online transactions, such as electronics downloads of titles or product add-ons) and its significance to our products. Based on our current assessment of obligations with respect to the online functionality for certain of our fiscal 2009 titles on certain platforms, we expect that certain fiscal 2009 titles will contain online functionality that constitutes a more-than-inconsequential separate service deliverable in addition to the product, and that our performance obligations for these fiscal 2009 titles will extend beyond the sale of the game. VSOE of fair value does not exist for these online features, as we do not plan to separately charge for this component of these fiscal 2009 titles. As a result, we expect to recognize all of the revenue from the sale of these fiscal 2009 titles ratably over an estimated service period, which is currently estimated to be six months beginning the month after shipment. In addition, we expect to defer the costs of sales of these fiscal 2009 titles. We anticipate that, in fiscal 2009, we will likely defer approximately $350.0 million in net revenues and $150.0 million in costs of sales from the sale of these fiscal 2009 titles into fiscal 2010. Since most of these fiscal 2009 titles are planned to release in the third quarter fiscal 2009, we expect that a majority of revenues and costs of sales for these products will be deferred in the third quarter fiscal 2009, and recognized later in the calendar year 2009. However, the actual amount of revenues and costs of sales deferred will vary significantly depending upon the timing of the release of these fiscal 2009 titles and the sales volume of such products.

        With respect to online transactions, such as electronic downloads of titles or product add-ons, revenue is recognized when the fee is paid by the online customer to purchase online content and we are notified by the online retailer that the product has been downloaded. In addition, in order to recognize revenue for both product sales and licensing transactions, persuasive evidence of an arrangement must exist and collection of the related receivable must be probable.

        Sales incentives or other consideration given by us to our customers is accounted for in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Emerging Issues Task Force ("EITF") Issue 01-9, Accounting for Consideration Given by a Vendor to a Customer (Including a Reseller of the Vendor's Products). In accordance with EITF Issue 01-9, sales incentives and other consideration that are considered adjustments of the selling price of our products, such as rebates and product placement fees, are reflected as reductions of revenue. Sales incentives and other consideration that represent costs incurred by us for assets or services received, such as the appearance of our products in a customer's national circular advertisement, are reflected as sales and marketing expenses.

        Allowances for Returns, Price Protection, Doubtful Accounts, and Inventory Obsolescence.    We closely monitor and analyze the historical performance of our various titles, the performance of products released by other publishers and the anticipated timing of other releases in order to assess future demands of current and upcoming titles. Initial volumes shipped upon title launch and subsequent reorders are evaluated to ensure that quantities are sufficient to meet the demands from the retail markets but at the same time, are controlled to prevent excess inventory in the channel. We benchmark our units to be shipped to our customers using historical and industry data.

        We may permit product returns from, or grant price protection to, our customers under certain conditions. In general, price protection refers to the circumstances when we elect to decrease the wholesale price of a product by a certain amount and, when granted and applicable, allows customers a credit against amounts owed by such customers to us with respect to open and/or future invoices. The conditions our customers must meet to be granted the right to return products or price protection are,

40



among other things, compliance with applicable payment terms and consistent delivery to us of inventory and sell-through reports. We may also consider other factors, including the facilitation of slow-moving inventory and other market factors. Management must make estimates of potential future product returns and price protection related to current period product revenue. We estimate the amount of future returns and price protection for current period product revenue utilizing historical experience and information regarding inventory levels and the demand and acceptance of our products by the end consumer. The following factors are used to estimate the amount of future returns and price protection for a particular title: historical performance of titles in similar genres, historical performance of the hardware platform, historical performance of the franchise, console hardware life cycle, our sales force and retail customer feedback, industry pricing, weeks of on-hand retail channel inventory, absolute quantity of on-hand retail channel inventory, our warehouse on-hand inventory levels, the title's recent sell-through history (if available), marketing trade programs, and competing titles. The relative importance of these factors varies among titles depending upon, among other items, genre, platform, seasonality, and sales strategy. Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with establishing the allowance for returns and price protection in any accounting period. Based upon historical experience we believe our estimates are reasonable. However, actual returns and price protection could vary materially from our allowance estimates due to a number of reasons including, among others, a lack of consumer acceptance of a title, the release in the same period of a similarly themed title by a competitor, or technological obsolescence due to the emergence of new hardware platforms. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of our revenue for any period if factors or market conditions change or if management makes different judgments or utilizes different estimates in determining the allowances for returns and price protection. For example, a 1% change in our March 31, 2008 allowance for returns and price protection would impact net revenues by $1.3 million.

        Similarly, management must make estimates of the uncollectibility of our accounts receivable. In estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts, we analyze the age of current outstanding account balances, historical bad debts, customer concentrations, customer creditworthiness, current economic trends, and changes in our customers' payment terms and their economic condition, as well as whether we can obtain sufficient credit insurance. Any significant changes in any of these criteria would affect management's estimates in establishing our allowance for doubtful accounts.

        We value inventory at the lower of cost or market. We regularly review inventory quantities on hand and in the retail channel and record a provision for excess or obsolete inventory based on the future expected demand for our products. Significant changes in demand for our products would impact management's estimates in establishing our inventory provision.

        Software Development Costs and Intellectual Property Licenses.    Software development costs include payments made to independent software developers under development agreements, as well as direct costs incurred for internally developed products.

        We account for software development costs in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 86, Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software to Be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed. Software development costs are capitalized once the technological feasibility of a product is established and such costs are determined to be recoverable. Technological feasibility of a product encompasses both technical design documentation and game design documentation. Significant management judgments and estimates are utilized in the assessment of when technological feasibility is established. For products where proven technology exists, this may occur early in the development cycle. Technological feasibility is evaluated on a product-by-product basis. Prior to a product's release, we expense, as part of "cost of sales—software royalties and amortization," capitalized costs when we believe such amounts are not recoverable. Capitalized costs for those products that are cancelled or abandoned are charged to product development expense in the period of cancellation. Amounts related

41



to software development which are not capitalized are charged immediately to product development expense.

        Commencing upon product release, capitalized software development costs are amortized to "cost of sales—software royalties and amortization" based on the ratio of current revenues to total projected revenues for the specific product, generally resulting in an amortization period of six months or less.

        Intellectual property license costs represent license fees paid to intellectual property rights holders for use of their trademarks, copyrights, software, technology, music or other intellectual property or proprietary rights in the development of our products. Depending upon the agreement with the rights holder, we may obtain the rights to use acquired intellectual property in multiple products over multiple years, or alternatively, for a single product. Prior to the related product's release, we expense, as part of "cost of sales—intellectual property licenses," capitalized intellectual property costs when we believe such amounts are not recoverable. Capitalized intellectual property costs for those products that are cancelled or abandoned are charged to product development expense in the period of cancellation.

        Commencing upon the related product's release, capitalized intellectual property license costs are amortized to "cost of sales—intellectual property licenses" based on the ratio of current revenues for the specific product to total projected revenues for all products in which the licensed property will be utilized. As intellectual property license contracts may extend for multiple years, the amortization of capitalized intellectual property license costs relating to such contracts may extend beyond one year.

        We evaluate the future recoverability of capitalized software development costs and intellectual property licenses on a quarterly basis. For products that have been released in prior periods, the primary evaluation criterion is actual title performance. For products that are scheduled to be released in future periods, the recoverability of capitalized software development costs is evaluated based on the expected performance of the specific products to which the costs relate or in which the licensed trademark or copyright is to be used. Criteria used to evaluate expected product performance include: historical performance of comparable products developed with comparable technology; orders for the product prior to its release; and for any sequel product, estimated performance based on the performance of the product on which the sequel is based. As many of our intellectual property licenses extend for multiple products over multiple years, we also assess the recoverability of capitalized intellectual property license costs based on certain qualitative factors, such as the success of other products and/or entertainment vehicles utilizing the intellectual property, whether there are any future planned theatrical releases or television series based on the intellectual property, and the rights holder's continued promotion and exploitation of the intellectual property.

        Significant management judgments and estimates are utilized in the assessment of the recoverability of capitalized costs. In evaluating the recoverability of capitalized costs, the assessment of expected product performance utilizes forecasted sales amounts and estimates of additional costs to be incurred. If revised forecasted or actual product sales are less than, and/or revised forecasted or actual costs are greater than, the original forecasted amounts utilized in the initial recoverability analysis, the net realizable value may be lower than originally estimated in any given quarter, which could result in an impairment charge. Additionally, as noted above, as many of our intellectual property licenses extend for multiple products over multiple years, we also assess the recoverability of capitalized intellectual property license costs based on certain qualitative factors such as the success of other products and/or entertainment vehicles utilizing the intellectual property, whether there are any future planned theatrical releases or television series based on the intellectual property and the rights holder's continued promotion and exploitation of the intellectual property. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of charges for any period if management makes different judgments or utilizes different estimates in evaluating these qualitative factors.

        Stock-based Compensation Expense.    On April 1, 2006, we adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment, ("SFAS No. 123R") which requires

42



the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to our employees and directors, including employee stock options and employee stock purchases made pursuant to the Employee Stock Purchase Plan based on estimated fair values. Stock-based compensation expense recognized under SFAS No. 123R for the years ended March 31, 2008, and 2007 was $53.6 million, and $25.5 million, respectively. See Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 for additional information.

        We estimate the value of employee stock options on the date of grant using a binomial-lattice model. The fair value of a share-based payment as of the grant date estimated in accordance with this option pricing model depends upon our future stock price as well as assumptions concerning expected volatility, risk-free interest rate, and risk-adjusted stock return, and measures of employees' forfeiture, exercise, and post-vesting termination behavior. Statistical methods were used to estimate employee rank specific termination rates. These termination rates, in turn, were used to model the number of options that are expected to vest and employees' post-vesting termination behavior. Employee rank specific estimates of expected time-to-exercise ("ETTE") were used to reflect employee exercise behavior. ETTE was estimated by using statistical procedures to first estimate the conditional probability of exercise occurring during each time period, conditional on the option surviving to that time period and then using those probabilities to estimate ETTE. The model was calibrated by adjusting parameters controlling exercise and post-vesting termination behavior so that the measures output by the model matched values of these measures that were estimated from historical data. The weighted-average estimated value of employee stock options granted during the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 was $9.21 and $5.86, respectively, per share using the binomial-lattice model with the following weighted-average assumptions:

 
  Employee and Director Options
For the years ended March 31,

 
 
  2008
  2007
 
Expected life (in years)   5.41   4.87  
Risk free interest rate   4.70 % 4.99 %
Volatility   51 % 54 %
Dividend yield      

        To estimate volatility for the binomial-lattice model, we use methods or capabilities that are discussed in SFAS No. 123R and SAB No. 107. These methods included the implied volatility method, which is based upon the volatilities for exchange-traded options with respect to our stock, to estimate short-term volatility, the historical method which is based upon the annualized standard deviation of the instantaneous returns on Activision's stock during the option's contractual term, to estimate long-term volatility and a statistical model to estimate the transition or "mean reversion" from short-term volatility to long-term volatility. Based on these methods, for options granted during the year ended March 31, 2008, the expected stock price volatility ranged from 34% to 53%, with a weighted-average volatility of 51%. For options granted during the year ended March 31, 2007, the expected stock price volatility ranged from 38% to 56%, with a weighted average volatility of 54%.

        As was the case for volatility, the risk-free rate is assumed to change during the option's contractual period. As required by a binomial-lattice model, the risk-free rate reflects the interest from one time period to the next (the "forward rate") as opposed to the interest rate from the grant date to the given time period (the "spot rate.") Since we do not currently pay dividends and do not currently expect to pay them in the future, we have assumed that the dividend yield is zero.

        The expected life of employee stock options represents the weighted-average period the stock options are expected to remain outstanding and is, as required by SFAS No. 123R, output by the binomial-lattice model. The expected life of employee stock options depends on all of the underlying

43



assumptions and calibration of our model. The binomial-lattice model assumes that employees will exercise options when the stock price equals or exceeds an exercise boundary. The exercise boundary is not constant but continually declines as one approaches the option's expiration date. The exact placement of the exercise boundary depends on all of the model inputs as well as the measures that were used to calibrate the model to estimated measures of employees' exercise and termination behavior.

        Stock-based compensation expense recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Operations is based on awards ultimately expected to vest and has been reduced for estimated forfeitures. SFAS No. 123R requires forfeitures to be estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates.

        If factors change and we employ different assumptions in the application of SFAS No. 123R in future periods, the compensation expense that we record under SFAS No. 123R may differ significantly from what we have recorded in the current period.

        Income Taxes.    We record a tax provision for the anticipated tax consequences of the reported results of operations. In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes, the provision for income taxes is computed using the asset and liability method, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. We record a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount that is believed more likely than not to be realized. Effective at the beginning of fiscal 2008, we adopted Financial Interpretation No. ("FIN") 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109. Further information may be found in Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8.

        Management believes it is more likely than not that forecasted income, including income that may be generated as a result of certain tax planning strategies, together with the tax effects of the deferred tax liabilities, will be sufficient to fully recover the remaining deferred tax assets. In the event that all or part of the net deferred tax assets are determined not to be realizable in the future, an adjustment to the valuation allowance would be charged to earnings in the period such determination is made. In addition, the calculation of tax liabilities involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of FIN 48 and other complex tax laws. Resolution of these uncertainties in a manner inconsistent with management's expectations could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results.

44


Selected Consolidated Statements of Operations Data

        The following table sets forth certain Consolidated Statements of Operations data for the periods indicated as a percentage of consolidated net revenues and also breaks down net revenues by territory, business segment, and platform, as well as operating income by business segment (amounts in thousands):

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
 
 
  2008
  2007
  2006
 
Net revenues   $ 2,898,136   100 % $ 1,513,012   100 % $ 1,468,000   100 %
Costs and expenses:                                
  Cost of sales—product costs     1,240,605   43     799,587   52     734,874   50  
  Cost of sales—software royalties and amortization     294,279   10     132,353   9     147,822   10  
  Cost of sales—intellectual property licenses     110,551   4     46,125   3     57,666   4  
  Product development     269,535   9     133,073   9     132,651   9  
  Sales and marketing     308,143   10     196,213   13     283,395   19  
  General and administrative     195,409   7     132,514   9     96,366   7  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Total costs and expenses     2,418,522   83     1,439,865   95     1,452,774   99  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income from operations     479,614   17     73,147   5     15,226   1  
Investment income, net     51,254   1     36,678   2     30,630   2  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Income before income tax provision     530,868   18     109,825   7     45,856   3  
Income tax provision     185,985   6     24,038   1     5,605    
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income   $ 344,883   12 % $ 85,787   6 % $ 40,251   3 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net Revenues by Territory:                                
  North America   $ 1,761,753   61 % $ 753,376   50 % $ 710,040   48 %
  Europe     1,037,257   36     718,973   47     717,494   49  
  Other     99,126   3     40,663   3     40,466   3  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Total net revenues   $ 2,898,136   100 % $ 1,513,012   100 % $ 1,468,000   100 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

Net Revenues by Segment/Platform Mix:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Publishing:                                
    Console   $ 2,129,799   73 % $ 886,795   59 % $ 812,345   55 %
    Hand-held     219,299   8     153,357   10     158,861   11  
    PC     156,068   5     78,886   5     183,457   13  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Total publishing net revenues     2,505,166   86     1,119,038   74     1,154,663   79  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Distribution:                                
    Console     268,794   9     238,662   16     196,413   13  
    Hand-held     94,918   4     122,293   8     76,973   5  
    PC     29,258   1     33,019   2     39,951   3  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Total distribution net revenues     392,970   14     393,974   26     313,337   21  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Total net revenues   $ 2,898,136   100 % $ 1,513,012   100 % $ 1,468,000   100 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating Income (Loss) by Segment:                                
    Publishing   $ 461,718   16 % $ 64,076   4 % $ (6,715 ) %
    Distribution     17,896   1     9,071   1     21,941   1  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Total operating income   $ 479,614   17 % $ 73,147   5 % $ 15,226   1 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

45


Results of Operations—Fiscal Years Ended March 31, 2008 and 2007

Net Revenues

        We primarily derive revenue from sales of packaged interactive software games designed for play on video game consoles (such as the PS2, PS3, Xbox360, and Wii), PCs, and hand-held game devices (such as the NDS, and PSP). We also derive revenue from our distribution business in Europe that provides logistical and sales services to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations and third-party manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware.

        The following table details our consolidated net revenues by business segment and our publishing net revenues by territory for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 (amounts in thousands):

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
   
   
 
 
  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
 
  2008
  2007
 
Publishing net revenues                        
    North America   $ 1,761,753   $ 753,376   $ 1,008,377   134 %
   
 
 
 
 
    Europe     644,287     324,999     319,288   98 %
    Other     99,126     40,663     58,463   144 %
   
 
 
 
 
  Total international     743,413     365,662     377,751   103 %
   
 
 
 
 
Total publishing net revenues     2,505,166     1,119,038     1,386,128   124 %
Distribution net revenues     392,970     393,974     (1,004 ) 0 %
   
 
 
 
 
Consolidated net revenues   $ 2,898,136   $ 1,513,012   $ 1,385,124   92 %
   
 
 
 
 

        Consolidated net revenues increased 92% from $1,513.0 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 to $2,898.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

        In the second quarter fiscal 2008, we determined to recognize all of the net revenues from the sale of one of our titles, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (which is primarily an online multiplayer PC game), on a deferred basis—straight-line over an estimated service period, which we estimate to be six months beginning the month after shipment. There is no impact to consolidated net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008.

        Overall, the increase in consolidated net revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, was driven by the following:

46


        In fiscal 2009, we plan to publish Guitar Hero: On Tour for the NDS; Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero IV across multiple platforms. We plan to release Call of Duty 5, and continue to expand our licensed titles such as Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Monsters vs. Aliens, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, our first James Bond title, Quantum of Solace, and several other titles. We also expect to increase our titles across multiple platforms to take advantage of the expected growth of different hardware platforms in fiscal 2009. As a result, we anticipate net revenues will increase in fiscal 2009 in comparison to the record net revenues achieved in fiscal 2008. However, such increases may be offset by the impact of revenue deferral described below.

        When we plan our fiscal 2009 titles releases, we continue to monitor the development of online functionality (together with online transactions, such as electronics downloads of titles or product add-ons) and its significance to our products. Based on our current assessment of obligations with respect to the online functionality for certain of our fiscal 2009 titles on certain platforms, we expect that certain fiscal 2009 titles will contain online functionality that constitutes a more-than-inconsequential separate service deliverable in addition to the product, and that our performance obligations for these fiscal 2009 titles will extend beyond the sale of the game. Vendor specific objective evidence of fair value does not exist for these online features, as we do not plan to separately charge for this component of these fiscal 2009 titles. As a result, we expect to recognize all of the revenue from the sale of these fiscal 2009 titles ratably over an estimated service period, which is currently estimated to be six months beginning the month after shipment. In addition, we expect to defer the costs of sales of these fiscal 2009 titles. We anticipate that, in fiscal 2009, we will likely defer approximately $350.0 million in net revenues and $150.0 million in costs of sales from the sale of these fiscal 2009 titles into fiscal 2010. Since most of these fiscal 2009 titles are planned to release in the third quarter fiscal 2009, we expect that a majority of revenues and costs of sales for these products will be deferred in the third quarter fiscal 2009, and recognized later in the calendar year 2009. However, the actual amount of revenues and costs of sales deferred will vary significantly depending upon the timing of the release of these fiscal 2009 titles and the sales volume of such products.

North America Publishing Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 1,761,753   61 % $ 753,376   50 % $ 1,008,377   134 %

        North America publishing net revenues increased 134% from $753.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $1,761.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The main revenue drivers for the year ended March 31, 2008 were Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, was the number one best-selling game in dollars in the U.S. for fiscal 2008, according to The NPD Group. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ended the fiscal 2008 as the number three best-selling game in dollars in the U.S., according to The NPD Group. Other key revenue contributors during the year include Guitar Hero II for the Xbox360, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and our new licensed intellectual property TRANSFORMERS: The Game.

47


        North America publishing net revenues increased as a percentage of consolidated net revenues from 50% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 61% for the year ended March 31, 2008. The increases in the percentages of total consolidated net revenues were a result of the stronger growth in net revenues for the publishing segment than that of the distribution segment during the year.

International Publishing Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 743,413   26 % $ 365,662   24 % $ 377,751   103 %

        International publishing net revenues increased by 103% from $365.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $743.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The increase in international publishing net revenues was primarily due to the increase in the number of titles released internationally in fiscal 2008, and the success of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. We also grew our European market share from 4.8 percent to 7.4 percent during fiscal 2008, according to Charttrack and Gfk.

        International publishing net revenues were further increased by a year over year strengthening of the EUR, AUD, and GBP in relation to the USD of approximately $63.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to the year ended March 31, 2007. Excluding the impact of changing foreign currency rates, our international publishing net revenues increased 86% year over year. As a percentage of consolidated net revenues, international publishing net revenues increased slightly from 24% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 26% for the year ended March 31, 2008. The slight increase in the percentage of total consolidated net revenues was a result of the stronger growth in net revenues for the publishing segment than that of the distribution segment during the year.

Publishing Net Revenues by Platform

        Publishing net revenues increased 124% from $1,119.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $2,505.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The following table details our publishing net revenues by platform and as a percentage of total publishing net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 (amounts in thousands):

 
  Year Ended
March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revs

  Year Ended
March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revs

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
Publishing Net Revenues                                
  PC   $ 156,068   6 % $ 78,886   7 % $ 77,182   98 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Console                                
    Sony PlayStation 3     313,123   13 %   53,842   5 %   259,281   482 %
    Sony PlayStation 2     716,922   29 %   500,927   45 %   215,995   43 %
    Microsoft Xbox360     785,476   31 %   200,394   18 %   585,082   292 %
    Nintendo Wii     309,867   12 %   54,636   5 %   255,231   467 %
    Other     4,411   %   76,996   7 %   (72,585 ) (94 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total console     2,129,799   85 %   886,795   80 %   1,243,004   140 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hand-held     219,299   9 %   153,357   13 %   65,942   43 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total publishing net revenues   $ 2,505,166   100 % $ 1,119,038   100 % $ 1,386,128   124 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

48


Personal Computer Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 156,068   6 % $ 78,886   7 % $ 77,182   98 %

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the PC increased 98% from $78.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $156.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The increases were primarily due to the strong performance of our fiscal 2008 PC release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. For fiscal 2008, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the number one PC title in dollars worldwide, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk. The increase also resulted from an increased number of titles, both mainline titles and value titles, released on the PC. This compares to fiscal 2007 where net revenues were primarily derived from catalog sales of Call of Duty 2, Quake 4 and The Movies, as well as revenues from our European affiliate title LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

        We plan to release several key titles on the PC in fiscal 2009, however, we anticipate net revenues from the PC to be partially offset by the impact of revenue deferral as previously discussed.

Sony PlayStation 3 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 313,123   13 % $ 53,842   5 % $ 259,281   482 %

        The PS3 was released in North America in November 2006 and in Europe in March 2007. With more than a full year for the installed base of the PS3 to expand, and our increased number of titles available on the PS3, net revenues from sales of titles for the PS3 increased 482% from $53.8 million, or 5% of publishing net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $313.1 million, or 13% of publishing net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008. The increase was primarily attributable to the success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which was the number one best-selling title in dollars on the PS3, according to The NPD Group. Further, the increased number of titles available on the PS3 has increased our revenues from this platform. We released eight titles on the PS3 during fiscal 2008 as compared to three titles for fiscal 2007. During fiscal 2008, we released Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3, TRANSFORMERS: The Game, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, History Channel: Battle for the Pacific, and our European affiliate title LucasArts' Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga on the PS3. This compares to the third quarter fiscal 2007 releases of Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Project 8.

        Over the last twelve months, Sony has cut prices and introduced lower priced models of the PS3 hardware. These price reductions have grown the installed base of the PS3, which combined with our strong slate of titles led to a significant increase in net revenues on the PS3 platform. We expect net revenues from sales of titles for the PS3 to continue to increase as we plan to increase our releases on the PS3 to take advantage of the expected growth of the hardware installed base, however, we anticipate such increase will be partially offset by the impact of revenue deferral as previously discussed.

Sony PlayStation 2 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 716,922   29 % $ 500,927   45 % $ 215,995   43 %

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        In general, there was an overall decline in industry sales of titles for the PS2 as more consumers migrated to the next-generation platforms as compared to the prior year. However, net revenues from sales of our titles for the PS2 increased 43% from $500.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $716.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The key titles impacting the fiscal 2008 results were Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Bee Movie Game, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and TRANSFORMERS: The Game and the continued momentum for our fiscal 2007 third quarter titles. This compares to the titles released in fiscal 2007 such as Call of Duty 3, the number three title overall in dollars for the third quarter fiscal 2007, according to The NPD Group, and Guitar Hero II (game and accessories), the number one best-selling title in dollars on the PS2 platform for the third quarter fiscal 2007 per The NPD Group. Also, in fiscal 2007, we released Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Over the Hedge, Tony Hawk's Project 8, X-Men: The Official Game, Shrek Smash N' Crash Racing and our European affiliate title, LucasArts' Star Wars Lego 2. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from the PS2 decreased from 45% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 29% for the year ended March 31, 2008. This was mainly attributable to the growth of net revenues from the next-generation platforms at a faster pace than revenues from the PS2.

        Although we expect net revenues from sales of titles for the PS2 to decline over time as consumers transition to the next-generation platforms, we expect significant net revenues for the PS2 for fiscal 2009 as we plan to develop and release many of our key titles on this platform.

Microsoft Xbox360 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 785,476   31 % $ 200,394   18 % $ 585,082   292 %

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox360 increased 292% from $200.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $785.5 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox360 increased from 18% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 31% for the year ended March 31, 2008. These increases are due to the growing installed base for the Xbox360, as well as an increase in the number of new titles we released. In fiscal 2008, we released seventeen titles for this platform, and the key revenue drivers were Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock which was the number one best-selling game in dollars in the U.S. and Europe, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which was the number two best-selling game in dollars worldwide, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack, and Gfk. Other major titles released on the Xbox360 in fiscal 2008 such as Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero II, Spider-Man 3, and TRANSFORMERS: The Game also contributed to the increase in revenues. This compares to our fiscal 2007 releases of ten titles for this platform, three of which, Call of Duty 3, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance ranked among the top ten Xbox360 titles during the third quarter fiscal 2007, according to The NPD Group.

        In August 2007, Microsoft announced a reduction of the retail price of the Xbox360 by $50 in the U.S. market and by EUR 50 in European markets. These price reductions have grown the installed base of the Xbox360, which combined with our strong slate of titles led to a significant increase in net revenues on the Xbox360 platform. We expect net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox360 to continue to increase as we plan several key releases on the Xbox360 to take advantage of the expected growth of the hardware installed base, however, we anticipate such increase will be partially offset by the impact of revenue deferral as previously discussed.

50


Nintendo Wii Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 309,867   12 % $ 54,636   5 % $ 255,231   467 %

        The Wii was released in November 2006 and quickly gained strong consumer acceptance due to its innovative controller and mass market appeal. With more than a full year of expanding the installed base of the Wii and our increased number of new titles on the Wii, net revenues from the sales of titles for the Wii increased to $309.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2008 from $54.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from the sales of titles for the Wii increased from 5% to 12% year over year. We released the first version of Guitar Hero for the Wii, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in the third quarter fiscal 2008 which was the main contributor to our net revenues on the platform and the primary reason for the increase in net revenues from sales of Wii titles for the year ended March 31, 2008. Further, we have released fourteen other Wii titles during fiscal 2008 as compared to five Wii titles released during fiscal 2007. Some of the titles we released during fiscal 2008 were Bee Movie Game, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Dancing with Stars, Barbie Island Princess, Cabela's: Big Game Hunter 2008 and, in Europe our affiliate LucasArt's titles, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. This compares to the five titles concurrently released with the release of the Wii in November 2006, Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Rapala Tournament Fishing, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.

        We expect net revenues from sales of titles for the Wii to continue to increase as we plan key releases on the Wii for the expected growth of the hardware installed base, however, we anticipate such increase will be partially offset by the impact of revenue deferral as previously discussed.

Hand-held Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 219,299   9 % $ 153,357   13 % $ 65,942   43 %

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the hand-held platforms increased 43% from $153.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $219.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. During fiscal 2008, we have released more "big proposition" titles which contributed to the increase in net revenues. The increase in net revenues was primarily due to the releases of Bee Movie Game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Shrek: Ogres and Donkeys, TRANSFORMERS: The Game on the PSP, TRANSFORMERS: Decepticon and TRANSFORMERS: Autobots exclusively on the NDS, and our European releases of two LucasArts' titles, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. This compares to the fiscal 2007 releases of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts!, Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Spider-Man: Battle for New York, Over the Hedge, X-Men: The Official Game, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions and Rapala Trophies and our European affiliate title, LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from hand-held platforms decreased from 13% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 9% for the year ended March 31, 2008. This was mainly attributable to the growth of net revenues from the Guitar Hero titles on the next-generation platforms and the Guitar Hero titles were not yet available on the hand-held platforms during fiscal 2008. Our first Guitar Hero title on the hand-held platform will be released in fiscal 2009.

        With the installed base of the NDS and PSP continuing to increase and our increasing presence on hand-held platform, such as Guitar Hero: On Tour, and several other titles, we expect fiscal 2009 hand-held net revenues to continue to increase year over year.

51


Overall

        The platform mix of our future publishing net revenues will likely be impacted by a number of factors, including the ability of hardware manufacturers to continue to increase their installed hardware base for the next-generation platforms, as well as the performance of key product releases from our product release schedule. According to The NPD Group, we were the number one console and handheld software publisher in dollars for fiscal 2008. Additionally, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, was the number one best-selling game in dollars in the U.S. and Europe for fiscal 2008, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack, and Gfk. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ended the fiscal year as the number two best-selling game worldwide in units, with sell-through of more than 9 million units to date, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk. In fiscal 2008, both the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises surpassed a billion dollars in life to date net revenues.

        A significant portion of our revenues and profits are derived from a relatively small number of popular titles and franchises each year, so revenues and profits are significantly affected by our ability to release highly successful "hit" titles. For example, for the year ended March 31, 2008, 65% of our consolidated net revenues and 75% of publishing net revenues were derived from net revenues from three franchises. This revenue concentration reflects an industry wide trend, with market share of the top 10 titles of calendar year 2007 doubling versus a year ago, according to The NPD Group. For fiscal 2008, we published three top-10 best-selling titles in dollars overall, according to The NPD Group. Though many of our titles have substantial production or acquisition costs and marketing budgets, once a title recoups these costs, incremental net revenues directly and positively impact operating profits resulting in a disproportionate amount of operating income being derived from these select titles. We expect that a limited number of titles and franchises will continue to produce a disproportionately large amount of our net revenues and profits.

        Three key factors that could affect future publishing and distribution net revenues performance are console hardware pricing, software pricing, and transitions in console platforms. As console hardware moves through its life cycle, hardware manufacturers typically enact price reductions. Reductions in the price of console hardware typically result in an increase in the installed base of hardware owned by consumers. Historically, we have also seen that lower console hardware prices put downward pressure on software pricing. However, we expect console software launch pricing for the next-generation platforms to hold at current levels as a result of the strong consumer acceptance of these price points that has occurred since the launch of the next-generation platforms and the greater product capability and entertainment value of next generation titles. We continue to expect software launch pricing on the PS2 to hold at $39.99 for top titles on this platform.

Distribution Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 392,970   14 % $ 393,974   26 % $ (1,004 ) 0 %

        Distribution net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008 decreased slightly from $394.0 million to $393.0 million year over year. Foreign exchange rates increased reported distribution net revenues by approximately $24.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. Excluding the impact of the changing foreign currency rates, our distribution net revenues decreased $25.7 million or 7% year over year. The decrease in absolute dollars of distribution net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008 was primarily due to the effect of the termination of a significant customer, which outweighed the beneficial effect of foreign currency rates. Distribution net revenues as a percentage of consolidated net revenues decreased from 26% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 14% for the year ended March 31, 2008, primarily due to the significant increase in publishing net revenues.

52


        The mix of distribution net revenues between hardware and software sales varied slightly year over year with approximately 26% of distribution net revenues from hardware sales for the year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to 17% for the year ended March 31, 2007. The mix of future distribution net revenues will be driven by a number of factors including the occurrence of further hardware price reductions instituted by hardware manufacturers, and our ability to establish and maintain distribution agreements with hardware manufacturers, third-party software publishers and retail customers. For fiscal 2009, we expect distribution net revenues to decrease in absolute dollars due to the full year effect of the termination of the significant customer when compared to fiscal 2008.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Sales—Product Costs (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 1,240,605   43 % $ 799,587   52 % $ 441,018   55 %

        "Cost of sales—product costs" increased 55% from $799.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $1,240.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. "Cost of sales—product costs" increased as a result of the revenue growth in our publishing businesses. "Cost of sales—product costs" as a percentage of consolidated net revenues decreased from 52% for the year ended March 31, 2007 to 43% for year ended March 31, 2008. The decrease in "cost of sales—product costs" as a percentage of consolidated net revenues was partially due to a higher percentage of net revenues for fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007, relating to our publishing business which in general carries a lower percentage "cost of sales—product costs" than our distribution business. Net revenues from our publishing business was 86% of total net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to 74% for the year ended March 31, 2007. As we increase our presence on the next-generation platforms, publishing net revenues during fiscal 2008 included a larger mix of next-generation product sales which carries lower product costs than the other console platforms.

        We expect "cost of sales—product costs" as a percentage of consolidated net revenues for fiscal 2009 to be about in line with fiscal 2008.

Cost of Sales—Software Royalties and Amortization (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 294,279   12 % $ 132,353   12 % $ 161,926   122 %

        "Cost of sales—software royalties and amortization" as a percentage of publishing net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008 remained constant from the prior fiscal year at 12%. In absolute dollars, "cost of sales—software royalties and amortization" increased from $132.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $294.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2008. The increase was the result of a larger slate of titles released leading to an increase in net revenues during fiscal 2008 when compared to fiscal 2007.

        For fiscal 2009, we expect "costs of sales—software royalties and amortization" as a percentage of publishing net revenues to be about in line with fiscal 2008 levels.

53


Cost of Sales—Intellectual Property Licenses (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 110,551   4 % $ 46,125   4 % $ 64,426   140 %

        "Cost of sales—intellectual property licenses" increased in absolute dollars from $46.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 to $110.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2008 and remained constant as a percentage of publishing net revenues over the last fiscal year. This was primarily the result of the increase in net revenues and a larger movie slate with higher overall intellectual property costs, offset on a percentage of publishing net revenues by the larger growth of net revenues from titles of our wholly owned intellectual properties, such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which do not have significant intellectual property costs.

        For fiscal 2009, we expect "costs of sales—intellectual property licenses" as a percentage of publishing net revenues to be about in line with fiscal 2008 levels.

Product Development (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 269,535   11 % $ 133,073   12 % $ 136,462   103 %

        Product development expenses of $269.5 million and $133.1 million represented 11% and 12% of publishing net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively. The increase in product development expenses primarily resulted from costs incurred during fiscal 2008 to support the greater number of new titles in development, the more technologically advanced nature of those titles, the development costs of those titles that have not yet reached technological feasibility, and exceptional title performance during fiscal 2008 leading to increased costs for studio performance incentive plans.

        For fiscal 2009, we expect product development expenses as a percentage of publishing net revenues to be about in line with fiscal 2008 levels.

Sales and Marketing (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenue

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenue

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 308,143   10 % $ 196,213   13 % $ 111,930   57 %

        Sales and marketing expenses of $308.1 million and $196.2 million represented 10% and 13% of consolidated net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively. The increases in absolute dollars were a result of higher spending associated with several larger and successful releases particularly in the third quarter fiscal 2008 and the movie-based releases in the first quarter fiscal 2008, and several marketing programs conducted in the fourth quarter fiscal 2008. As a result of the success of our title releases, our consolidated net revenues increased by a higher percentage than sales and marketing expenses which led to the decrease of sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of consolidated net revenues.

        For fiscal 2009, we expect sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of consolidated net revenues to increase when compared to fiscal 2008 levels because of the effect of revenue deferral as previously discussed and the expected spending increases on sales and marketing to grow market share internationally and to support a larger slate of titles planned in fiscal 2009.

54


General and Administrative (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 195,409   7 % $ 132,514   9 % $ 62,895   47 %

        General and administrative expenses of $195.4 million and $132.5 million represented 7% and 9% of consolidated net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively. Expenses were higher than prior year primarily due to an increase in headcount related costs due to the expansion of RedOctane to support the growth of the Guitar Hero titles, increased bonus accruals due to strong financial performances of the Company, costs related to Activision's pending merger with Vivendi Games, the consolidation and related amortization of intangibles related to DemonWare and Bizarre Creations (acquired in May 2007 and September 2007, respectively) included in our results of operations, and the impact of changes in foreign currency rates.

        For fiscal 2009, we expect general and administrative expenses as a percentage of consolidated net revenues to increase when compared to fiscal 2008 levels because of the effect of revenue deferral as previously discussed although the expenses are expected to be about in line with fiscal 2008.

Operating Income (amounts in thousands)

 
  March 31,
2008

  % of
Segment/
Consolidated
Net Revs

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Segment/
Consolidated
Net Revs

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
Publishing   $ 461,718   18 % $ 64,076   6 % $ 397,642   621 %
Distribution     17,896   5 %   9,071   2 %   8,825   97 %
   
     
     
     
  Consolidated   $ 479,614   17 % $ 73,147   5 % $ 406,467   556 %
   
     
     
     

        Publishing operating income for the year ended March 31, 2008 increased $397.6 million from $64.1 million for fiscal 2007 to $461.7 million for fiscal 2008. The increase was primarily due to:

        Distribution operating income for the year ended March 31, 2008 increased over the last fiscal year, from $9.1 million to $17.9 million. The results from the distribution business have improved primarily due to the effect of foreign currency rates, higher operating margin as a result of the termination of a significant customer that generated limited operating income, and the strong performance of Activision titles for the year ended March 31, 2008.

Investment Income, Net (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 51,254   2 % $ 36,678   2 % $ 14,576   40 %

        Investment income, net for the year ended March 31, 2008 was $51.3 million as compared to $36.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. The increase was primarily due to higher yields earned on our increasing portfolio of investments and cash equivalents, and a net realized gain in the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 of $1.1 million on the sale of investments.

55


Provision for Income Taxes (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2008

  % of
Pre Tax
Income

  March 31,
2007

  % of
Pre Tax
Income

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 185,985   35 % $ 24,038   22 % $ 161,947   674 %

        The income tax provision of $186.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2008 reflects our effective income tax rate of 35%. While our effective income tax rate for the year equals our statutory rate there are certain items that would normally generate a variance between the two rates. Those items are the federal and state research and development tax credits and the impact of foreign tax rate differentials partially offset by state taxes. However, the net effect for the year is approximately zero.

        The aforementioned effective income tax rate for the year ended March 31, 2008 of 35% differs from our effective income tax rate of 22% for the year ended March 31, 2007 due to an increase in pretax income for fiscal 2008 versus the pretax income for fiscal 2007, without a corresponding increase in the benefit of book/tax differences. The lower effective income tax rate in fiscal 2007 was also due to the reversal of valuation allowance.

Net Income

        Net income for the year ended March 31, 2008 was $344.9 million or $1.10 per diluted earnings per share, as compared to net income of $85.8 million or $0.28 per diluted earnings per share for the year ended March 31, 2007.

Results of Operations—Fiscal Years Ended March 31, 2007 and 2006

Net Revenues

        The following table details our consolidated net revenues by business segment and our publishing net revenues by territory for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006 (amounts in thousands):

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
   
   
 
 
  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
 
  2007
  2006
 
Publishing net revenues                        
    North America   $ 753,376   $ 710,040   $ 43,336   6 %
   
 
 
 
 
    Europe     324,999     404,157     (79,158 ) (20 )%
    Other     40,663     40,466     197   %
   
 
 
 
 
  Total international     365,662     444,623     (78,961 ) (18 )%
   
 
 
 
 
Total publishing net revenues     1,119,038     1,154,663     (35,625 ) (3 )%
Distribution net revenues     393,974     313,337     (80,637 ) 26 %
   
 
 
 
 
Consolidated net revenues   $ 1,513,012   $ 1,468,000   $ 45,012   3 %
   
 
 
 
 

        The increase in consolidated net revenues for fiscal 2007 was driven by the following:

56


Partially offset by:

North America Publishing Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 753,376   50 % $ 710,040   48 % $ 43,336   6 %

        North America publishing net revenues increased 6% from $710.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $753.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. Although the company released fewer titles in fiscal 2007, the high quality slate drove strong consumer demand and enabled the company to maintain pricing and record lower provisions for returns and price protection than in fiscal 2006. Net revenues were impacted by strong performances from Guitar Hero 2, Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Project 8. North America publishing net revenues increased as a percentage of consolidated net revenues from 48% for the year ended March 31, 2006 to 50% for the year ended March 31, 2007. The increase in the percentage of consolidated net revenues is due to a combination of strong performance in North America and a decrease in our international publishing net revenues due to a smaller slate and a decrease in the number of affiliate titles in Europe released in fiscal 2007.

International Publishing Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 365,662   24 % $ 444,623   30 % $ (78,961 ) (18 )%

        International publishing net revenues decreased by 18% from $444.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $365.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. Additionally, international publishing net revenues as a percentage of consolidated net revenues decreased from 30% for the year ended March 31, 2006 to 24% for the year ended March 31, 2007. The decrease in international publishing net revenues was primarily due to the decrease in the number of titles released internationally in fiscal 2007. Additionally, in Europe, our net revenues were impacted by a decrease in revenues from our affiliate titles. Fiscal 2006 included the successful LucasArts' titles, Star Wars:

57



Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Battlefront II, while fiscal 2007 included one major affiliate label release, LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. The decrease in international publishing net revenues was partially offset by a year over year strengthening of the EUR and the GBP in relation to the USD, which increased reported net revenues for fiscal 2007 by approximately $24.2 million. Excluding the impact of changing foreign currency rates, our international publishing net revenues decreased 23% year over year.

Publishing Net Revenues by Platform

        Publishing net revenues decreased 3% from $1,154.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $1,119.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. The following table details our publishing net revenues by platform and as a percentage of total publishing net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006 (amounts in thousands):

 
  Year Ended
March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revs

  Year Ended
March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revs

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
Publishing Net Revenues                                
PC   $ 78,886   7 % $ 183,457   16 % $ (104,571 ) (57 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Console                                
  Sony PlayStation 3     53,842   5 %     %   53,842   n/a  
  Sony PlayStation 2     500,927   45 %   422,239   36 %   78,688   19 %
  Microsoft Xbox360     200,394   18 %   102,809   9 %   97,585   95 %
  Microsoft Xbox     54,232   5 %   205,864   18 %   (151,632 ) (74 )%
  Nintendo Wii     54,636   5 %     %   54,636   n/a  
  Nintendo GameCube     22,761   2 %   80,964   7 %   (58,203 ) (72 )%
  Other     3   %   469   %   (466 ) (99 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total console     886,795   80 %   812,345   70 %   74,450   9 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hand-held                                
  Game Boy Advance     48,478   4 %   79,738   7 %   (31,260 ) (39 )%
  PlayStation Portable     49,931   4 %   52,016   5 %   (2,085 ) (4 )%
  Nintendo Dual Screen     54,948   5 %   27,107   2 %   27,841   103 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total hand-held     153,357   13 %   158,861   14 %   (5,504 ) (3 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total publishing net revenues   $ 1,119,038   100 % $ 1,154,663   100 % $ (35,625 ) (3 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

Personal Computer Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 78,886   7 % $ 183,457   16 % $ (104,571 ) (57 )%

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the PC decreased 57% from $183.5 million and 16% of publishing net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $78.9 million and 7% of publishing net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2007. The decreases were primarily due to the strong performance of our fiscal 2006 PC releases, as well as a decrease in the number of titles released for the PC during fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006. In fiscal 2006, we released the highly successful PC title, Call of Duty 2, which was ranked by NPD Funworld as the number two best selling PC title in the United States for the third quarter fiscal 2006, as well as Quake 4, The Movies, and Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil. This compares to fiscal 2007 where net revenues were primarily derived from catalog sales of Call of Duty 2, Quake 4 and The Movies, as well as revenues from our European affiliate title LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

58


Sony PlayStation 3 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

$ 53,842   5 % $   % $ 53,842   n/a

        The PS3 was released in November 2006 in North America and in March 2007 in Europe. Consistent with our goal of having a significant presence at the launch of each new platform, we released three titles concurrently with the hardware releases: Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Tony Hawk's Project 8. All of these titles were released at premium retail pricing (i.e. $59.99 in the United States).

Sony PlayStation 2 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 500,927   45 % $ 422,239   36 % $ 78,688   19 %

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the PS2 increased 19% from $422.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $500.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. Although we released a fewer number of major titles for the PS2 in fiscal 2007, the strong performance of these releases, particularly the PS2 exclusive title Guitar Hero 2, resulted in higher net revenues in absolute dollars and as a percentage of publishing net revenues. The key titles impacting the fiscal 2007 results were Call of Duty 3, the #3 title overall for the third quarter fiscal 2007, according to NPD Funworld, and Guitar Hero 2 (game and accessories), the #1 best selling title on the PS2 platform for the third quarter fiscal 2007 per NPD Funworld. In addition, we released Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Over the Hedge, Tony Hawk's Project 8, X-Men: The Official Game, Shrek Smash N' Crash Racing and our European affiliate title, LucasArts' Star Wars Lego 2. This compares to fiscal 2006 where we released the PS2 titles Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Shrek SuperSlam, GUN, True Crime: New York City, Madagascar, Fantastic Four, X-Men Legends 2, Ultimate Spiderman and two affiliate titles in Europe, LucasArts' Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Battlefront II.

Microsoft Xbox360 Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 200,394   18 % $ 102,809   9 % $ 97,585   95 %

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox360 increased 95% from $102.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $200.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox360 doubled from 9% for the year ended March 31, 2006 to 18% for the year ended March 31, 2007. These increases are due to the growing installed base for the Xbox360, as well as an increase in the number of titles released. In fiscal 2007, we released ten titles for this platform, and according to NPD Funworld, three of our titles, Call of Duty 3, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance ranked among the top ten Xbox 360 titles during the third quarter fiscal 2007. In fiscal 2006, we released four titles concurrently with the November 2005 launch of the Xbox360 hardware, Call of Duty 2, THAW, Quake 4, and GUN, and we experienced strong sales for these four titles although limited by hardware availability.

59


Microsoft Xbox Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 54,232   5 % $ 205,864   18 % $ (151,632 ) (74 )%

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox decreased 74% from $205.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $54.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. As a percentage of publishing net revenues, net revenues from sales of titles for the Xbox decreased from 18% for the year ended March 31, 2006 to 5% for the year ended March 31, 2007. These decreases were primarily attributable to a slowdown in sales for the Xbox as customers upgrade to the Xbox360, and the reduction in the number of titles released by us for this platform. In fiscal 2007 we released five major titles for Xbox: Call of Duty 3, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Over the Hedge and X-Men: The Official Game. In fiscal 2006, we released our largest slate including Call of Duty: Big Red One, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, GUN, Ultimate Spiderman, X-Men Legends 2, True Crime: New York City, Shrek: SuperSlam, Madagascar, Fantastic Four and the Xbox exclusive, Doom 3.

Nintendo Wii Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 54,636   5 % $   % $ 54,636   n/a %

        The Nintendo Wii was released in November 2006. Consistent with our goal of having a significant presence at the launch of each next generation platform, we released five titles concurrently with the release of Wii; Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Rapala Tournament Fishing, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. With the strong consumer demand for the platform, our five releases performed well, three of which were top ten Wii titles in the third quarter fiscal 2007, according to NPD Funworld: Call of Duty 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.

Nintendo GameCube Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 22,761   2 % $ 80,964   7 % $ (58,203 ) (72 )%

        Net revenues from sales of titles for the Nintendo GameCube decreased 72% from $81.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $22.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. The decrease in absolute dollars and as a percentage of publishing net revenues reflects a decrease in the number of new releases in fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006 and a significant slowdown in sales on the GameCube platform as customers transition to the next generation platforms. In fiscal 2006, we released nine major titles: Madagascar, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Ultimate Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Call of Duty: Big Red One, True Crime: New York City, GUN, Shrek Super Slam and X-Men Legends 2. This compares to fiscal 2007 when we released four titles: Over the Hedge, X-Men: The Official Game, Shrek Smash N' Crash Racing, and our European affiliate title, Star Wars Lego 2.

Hand-held Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 153,357   13 % $ 158,861   14 % $ (5,504 ) (3 )%

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        Net revenues from sales of titles for the hand-held platforms decreased 3% from $158.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $153.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. Hand-held net revenues as a percentage of publishing net revenues decreased slightly from 14% to 13%. Within the hand-held platforms, net revenues for the GBA platform decreased 39%, from $79.7 million for the prior fiscal year, to $48.5 million for fiscal 2007, PSP decreased by 4%, from $52.0 million to $49.9 million, and net revenues for the NDS doubled from $27.1 million for fiscal 2006 to $54.9 million for the current year. The decrease in net revenues for GBA is primarily related to slower GBA sales due to wider acceptance of the NDS platform. The net revenue increase for NDS reflects the strong performance of our key fiscal 2007 titles which includes Over the Hedge, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, X-Men: The Official Game, Spider-Man: Battle for New York and LucasArts' Star Wars Lego 2 in Europe, as the platform continued to gain consumer acceptance and market share. PSP net revenues for fiscal 2007 were slightly lower than the previous year. In fiscal 2006, we released a stronger PSP slate and our titles performed well with the consumer excitement for the March 2005 North America platform launch, and the September 2005 European platform launch. The 2006 slate included Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Spider-Man: The Movie 2, X-Men Legends 2, World Series of Poker, and two affiliate titles in Europe. Our key releases in fiscal 2007 were Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, and one European affiliate title, LucasArts' Star Wars Lego 2.

Distribution Net Revenues (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 393,974   26 % $ 313,337   21 % $ 80,637   26 %

        Distribution net revenues for the year ended March 31, 2007 increased 26% from the prior fiscal year, from $313.3 million to $394.0 million. Foreign exchange rates increased reported distribution net revenues by approximately $27.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2007. Excluding the impact of the changing foreign currency rates, our distribution net revenues increased $53.3 million or 17% year over year. This year over year increase was primarily due to the strong releases for certain third-party publishers, increased hardware sales primarily related to the launch of two new platforms in fiscal 2007, the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, as well as ongoing sales of NDS and PSP hardware, and the addition of a new customer in the second quarter fiscal 2007.

        The mix of distribution net revenues between hardware and software sales varied year over year with approximately 17% of distribution net revenues from hardware sales in the year ended March 31, 2007 as compared to 20% in the prior fiscal year. Fiscal 2007 results included the hardware releases of the Nintendo Wii in November 2006 and the PS3 in late March 2007. Fiscal 2006 included the release of the PSP in Europe in the second quarter and the Xbox360 in November 2005. The mix of future distribution net revenues will be driven by a number of factors including the occurrence of further hardware price reductions instituted by hardware manufacturers, and our ability to establish and maintain distribution agreements with hardware manufacturers, third-party software publishers and retail customers.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Sales—Product Costs (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 799,587   52 % $ 734,874   50 % $ 64,713   9 %

        "Cost of sales—product costs" represented 52% and 50% of consolidated net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. In absolute dollars, "cost of sales—product costs" increased 9% from $734.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2006 to $799.6 million for the year

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ended March 31, 2007. The primary factors affecting the increase in "cost of sales—product costs" in absolute dollars and as a percentage of consolidated net revenues were:

Partially offset by:

Cost of Sales—Software Royalties and Amortization (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 132,353   12 % $ 147,822   13 % $ (15,469 ) (10 )%

        "Cost of sales—software royalties and amortization" for the year ended March 31, 2007 decreased as a percentage of publishing net revenues from the prior fiscal year, from 13% to 12%. In absolute dollars, "cost of sales—software royalties and amortization" for the year ended March 31, 2007 also decreased from the prior fiscal year, from $147.8 million to $132.4 million. The decreases were mainly due to:

Cost of Sales—Intellectual Property Licenses (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 46,125   4 % $ 57,666   5 % $ (11,541 ) (20 )%

        "Cost of sales—intellectual property licenses" for the year ended March 31, 2007 decreased in absolute dollars and as a percentage of publishing net revenues over the same period last year, from $57.7 million to $46.1 million and from 5% to 4%, respectively. The decreases in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of publishing net revenues were due mainly to a decrease in the number of titles with associated intellectual property in fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006. In fiscal 2007, we released the following titles with associated intellectual property: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Over the Hedge, X-Men: Official Game, Guitar Hero 1 and 2, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. In fiscal 2006, we released the following titles with associated intellectual property: Doom 3 for the Xbox, Madagascar, Fantastic Four, Ultimate Spider-Man, X-Men Legends II, THAW, Quake IV, and Shrek SuperSlam.

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Product Development (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Publishing
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 133,073   12 % $ 132,651   11 % $ 422   %

        Product development expenses of $133.1 million and $132.7 million represented 12% and 11% of publishing net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. The increases in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of net revenues was primarily generated by:

Partially offset by:

Sales and Marketing (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenue

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenue

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 196,213   13 % $ 283,395   19 % $ (87,182 ) (31 )%

        Sales and marketing expenses of $196.2 million and $283.4 million represented 13% and 19% of consolidated net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. The decrease in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of net revenues was a result of the implementation of a more targeted media program which worked more efficiently helped by the overall strength and high quality of our fiscal 2007 title slate. We also released fewer titles in fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006, when we had the largest slate of new releases in our history. The decreases were partially offset by expenses of $5.1 million in fiscal 2007 related to stock-based compensation expense as a result of the implementation of SFAS No. 123R, as well as sales and marketing expenses associated with the acquisition of the Guitar Hero franchise.

General and Administrative (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 132,514   9 % $ 96,366   7 % $ 36,148   38 %

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        General and administrative expenses of $132.5 million and $96.4 million represented 9% and 7% of consolidated net revenues for the years ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. The increases were primarily due to increased legal expenses and professional fees relating primarily to our internal review of historical stock option granting practices, the consolidation of RedOctane into our results of operations, amortization of intangible assets related to the RedOctane acquisition, and stock-based compensation expense of $10.0 million in fiscal 2007 as a result of the implementation of SFAS No. 123R. These increases were partially offset by the benefits of our cost optimization program launched in the fourth quarter fiscal 2006 and gains on foreign currency.

Operating Income (amounts in thousands)

 
  March 31,
2007

  % of
Segment
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Segment
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
Publishing   $ 64,076   6 % $ (6,715 ) (1 )% $ 70,791   1,054 %
Distribution     9,071   2 %   21,941   7 %   (12,870 ) (59 )%
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Consolidated   $ 73,147   5 % $ 15,226   1 % $ 57,921   380 %
   
     
     
     

        Publishing operating income for the year ended March 31, 2007 increased $70.8 million from the same period last year, from an operating loss of $6.7 million to operating income of $64.1 million. The increase was primarily due to:

Partially offset by:

        Distribution operating income for the year ended March 31, 2007 decreased over the same period last year, from $21.9 million to $9.1 million. The decrease in operating income in 2007 was primarily due to increased business from large mass-market customers for which we earn smaller margins, an

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increase in hardware sales which carries a lower margin than software, and higher reserves for inventory obsolescence.

Investment Income, Net (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Consolidated
Net Revenues

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 36,678   2 % $ 30,630   2 % $ 6,048   20 %

        Investment income, net for the year ended March 31, 2007 was $36.7 million as compared to $30.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2006. The increase was primarily due to higher yields earned on our short term investments and cash equivalents, and a realized gain in the third quarter fiscal 2007 of $1.8 million on the sale of an investment in common stock.

Provision for Income Taxes (amounts in thousands)

March 31,
2007

  % of
Pre Tax
Income

  March 31,
2006

  % of
Pre Tax
Income

  Increase/
(Decrease)

  Percent
Change

 
$ 24,038   22 % $ 5,605   12 % $ 18,433   329 %

        The income tax provision of $24.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2007 reflects our effective income tax rate of 22%. This is higher than prior years as a result of an increase in pretax income for the year ended March 31, 2007, versus the amount of pretax income for the year ended March 31, 2006, without a corresponding increase in the benefit of book/tax differences. The significant items that generated the variance between our effective rate and our statutory rate of 35% were research and development tax credits, the impact of foreign tax rate differentials, and the elimination of the valuation allowance for research and development tax credits, partially offset by state taxes and the establishment of tax reserves for these credits and other deferred tax assets.

Net Income

        Net income for the year ended March 31, 2007 was $85.8 million or $0.28 per diluted share, as compared to $40.3 million or $0.14 per diluted share for the year ended March 31, 2006.

Selected Quarterly Operating Results

        Our quarterly operating results have in the past varied significantly and will likely vary significantly in the future, depending on numerous factors, several of which are not under our control. See Item 1A—"Risk Factors." Our business also has experienced and is expected to continue to experience significant seasonality, largely due to consumer buying patterns and our product release schedule focusing on those patterns. Net revenues typically are significantly higher during the fourth calendar quarter, primarily due to the increased demand for consumer software during the year-end holiday buying season. Accordingly, we believe that period to period comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as indications of future performance.

        The following table is a comparative breakdown of our unaudited quarterly results for the immediately preceding eight quarters (amounts in thousands, except per share data):

 
  For the quarters ended
 
 
  March 31,
2008

  Dec. 31,
2007

  Sept. 30,
2007

  June 30,
2007

  March 31,
2007

  Dec. 31,
2006

  Sept. 30,
2006

  June 30,
2006

 
Net revenues   $ 602,451   $ 1,482,484   $ 317,746   $ 495,455   $ 312,512   $ 824,259   $ 188,172   $ 188,069  
Cost of sales     350,229     762,290     204,956     327,960     216,007     483,180     141,078     137,800  
Operating income (loss)     54,533     404,534     (9,545 )   30,092     (29,114 )   173,120     (37,410 )   (33,449 )
Net income (loss)     44,163     272,196     698     27,826     (14,422 )   142,820     (24,302 )   (18,309 )
Basic earnings (loss) per share     0.15     0.93     0.00     0.10     (0.05 )   0.51     (0.09 )   (0.07 )
Diluted earnings (loss) per share     0.14     0.86     0.00     0.09     (0.05 )   0.46     (0.09 )   (0.07 )

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity

 
  As of and for the
years ended March 31,

   
 
 
  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
 
  2008
  2007
 
 
  (amounts in thousands)

 
Cash and cash equivalents   $ 1,396,250   $ 384,409   $ 1,011,841  
Short-term investments     52,962     570,440     (517,478 )
   
 
 
 
    $ 1,449,212   $ 954,849   $ 494,363  
   
 
 
 

Percentage of total assets

 

 

57

%

 

53

%

 

 

 

Cash flows provided by operating activities

 

$

573,500

 

$

27,162

 

$

546,338

 
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities     326,291     (35,242 )   361,533  
Cash flows provided by financing activities     105,163     27,968     77,195  

        As of March 31, 2008, our primary source of liquidity is comprised of $1,396.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and $53.0 million of short-term investments. Over the last two years, our primary sources of liquidity have included cash on hand at the beginning of the year and cash flows generated from continuing operations. We have also generated cash flows from the issuance of our common stock to employees through the exercise of options, which is described in more detail below in "Cash Flows from Financing Activities." We have not utilized debt financing as a significant source of cash flows. However, we do have available at certain of our international locations credit facilities, which are described below in "Credit Facilities," that can be utilized if needed.

        Following the closing of our proposed business combination with Vivendi Games, Inc. (see Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8), Activision Blizzard, Inc. ("Activision Blizzard") will commence a cash tender offer for up to 146.5 million of its shares at $27.50 per share. If the tender offer is fully subscribed, the aggregate consideration will be approximately $4.028 billion. Under the terms of the business combination agreement ("BCA"), we and Vivendi S.A. ("Vivendi") have agreed the purchase of the shares tendered in the tender offer will be funded as follows: (a) the first $2.928 billion of the aggregate consideration will be funded by Activision Blizzard with proceeds from the share purchase described in Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8, available cash on hand and, if necessary, borrowings made under one or more new credit facilities; (b) if the aggregate consideration is more than $2.928 billion, Vivendi has agreed to purchase from Activision Blizzard, at a purchase price of $27.50 per share, additional newly issued shares of Activision Blizzard common stock in an amount equal to the lesser of (x) $700.0 million and (y) the excess of the aggregate consideration over $2.928 billion, which amount will be used to fund the amount of the aggregate consideration that is in excess of $2.928 billion; and (c) if the aggregate consideration exceeds $3.628 billion, Activision Blizzard will fund the additional amount of the aggregate consideration that is in excess of $3.628 billion (up to the maximum aggregate consideration of $4.028 billion) through borrowings made under the new credit facilities issued by Vivendi (see below and Note 21 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8.)

        On April 29, 2008, we, acting on behalf of Activision Blizzard, entered into a senior unsecured credit agreement (the "Credit Agreement") with Vivendi. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement cannot be effected until the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the business combination agreement described above (the "Transactions.") After the closing of the Transactions, among other things, the Company's name will be changed to Activision Blizzard.

        After the closing of the Transactions, the Credit Agreement will provide Activision Blizzard with (i) a term loan credit facility (the "Tranche A Facility") in an aggregate amount of up to $400.0 million to be applied to fund that portion of the post-closing tender offer consideration in excess of

66



$3.628 billion as set forth in the BCA, (ii) a term loan credit facility (the "Tranche B Facility") in an aggregate amount of up to $150.0 million to be applied to repay certain indebtedness of Vivendi Games after the closing in accordance with the terms of the BCA, and (iii) a revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Facility," and collectively with the Tranche A Facility and the Tranche B Facility, the "New Credit Facilities") in an aggregate amount of up to $475.0 million to be used after the closing of the Transactions for general corporate purposes. In the event the BCA terminates prior to the closing of the Transactions, the New Credit Facilities will terminate effective on the same date (see Note 21 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8).

        We believe that we have sufficient working capital ($1,423.3 million at March 31, 2008), as well as proceeds available from our international credit facilities, to finance our operational requirements for at least the next twelve months, including purchases of inventory and equipment, the funding of the development, production, marketing and sale of new products, the acquisition of intellectual property rights for future products from third parties and the completion of the tender offer in connection with the combination with Vivendi Games.

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

        The primary source of cash flows provided by operating activities typically have included the collection of customer receivables generated by the sale of our products, offset by payments to vendors for the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of our products, third-party developers and intellectual property holders, and our own employees. For the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, cash flows from operating activities were $573.5 million and $27.2 million, respectively. The principal components comprising cash flows from operating activities for the year ended March 31, 2008 included an increase in amounts collected from customers due to increased net revenues, an increase in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities partially offset by the increase in inventory and accounts receivables. See an analysis of the change in key balance sheet accounts below in "Key Balance Sheet Accounts." We expect that a primary source of future liquidity, both short-term and long-term, will be the result of cash flows from continuing operations.

        A significant operating use of our cash relates to our continued investment in software development and intellectual property licenses. We spent approximately $168.8 million and $166.1 million for the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively, in connection with the acquisition of publishing or distribution rights for products being developed by third parties, the execution of new license agreements granting us long-term rights to intellectual property of third parties, as well as the capitalization of product development costs relating to internally developed products. We expect that we will continue to make significant expenditures relating to our investment in software development and intellectual property licenses. Our future cash commitments relating to these investments are detailed below in "Commitments." Cash flows from operations are affected by our ability to release highly successful or "hit" titles. Though many of these titles have substantial production or acquisition costs and marketing expenditures, once a title recoups these costs, incremental net revenues typically will directly and positively impact cash flows.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

        The primary source of cash used in investing activities typically have included capital expenditures, acquisitions of privately held interactive software development companies and publishing companies, and the net effect of purchases and sales/maturities of short-term investment vehicles. The goal of our investments is to maximize return while minimizing risk, maintaining liquidity, coordinating with anticipated working capital needs, and providing for prudent investment diversification.

        For the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, cash flows provided by and used in investing activities were $326.3 million and $35.2 million, respectively. For the year ended March 31, 2008, cash

67



flows provided by investing activities were primarily the result of proceeds from sales and maturities of investments, as offset by cash paid for business acquisitions, capital expenditures, and purchases of short-term investments. The increase in cash flows provided by investing activities versus the prior year was primarily related to our investment activities as we had a bigger net proceeds from sales and maturities of investments, particularly in the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 as compared to that of fiscal 2007. Such activities were carried out in anticipation of the close of the BCA with Vivendi and the related tender offer (see Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8), and are part of the reason for the substantial increase in cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1 billion. We have historically financed our acquisitions through the issuance of shares of common stock or a combination of common stock and cash.

        Due to uncertainties surrounding the timing of liquidation of our auction rate securities, which are comprised of AAA-rated student-loan-backed taxable securities, all our investments in such securities were classified as long-term investments in our consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2008. Liquidity for these auction rate securities is typically provided by an auction process which allows holders to sell their notes and resets the applicable interest rate at pre-determined intervals, usually every 7 to 35 days. On an industry-wide basis, many auctions have failed, and there is, as yet, no meaningful secondary market for these instruments. Each of the auction rate securities in our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2008 has experienced a failed auction and there is no assurance that future auctions for these securities will succeed. An auction failure means that the parties wishing to sell their securities could not be matched with an adequate volume of buyers. In the event that there is a failed auction, the indenture governing the security requires the issuer to pay interest at a contractually defined rate that is generally above market rates for other types of similar short-term instruments. The securities for which auctions have failed will continue to earn interest at the contractual rate and be auctioned every 7 to 35 days until the auction succeeds, the issuer calls the securities or they mature. As a result, our ability to liquidate and fully recover the carrying value of our auction rate securities in the near term may be limited or not exist.

        As there is not yet any meaningful secondary market for these securities, quoted market prices are not available. We estimated the fair market value using valuation models, which take into account both observable market data and non-observable factors, including credit quality, duration, insurance wraps, collateral composition, maximum rate formulas, comparable trading instruments, and likelihood of redemption. Accordingly, we consider the values generated by such valuation models to represent management's best estimate of fair value for the purposes of applying the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115 Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities.

        The change in fair value of the auction rate securities of $4.3 million was recorded as a component of comprehensive income (loss) in the Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders' Equity for the year ended March 31, 2008, as the decline in fair value is not considered to be "other-than-temporary." We have the intent and ability to hold these securities for a period of time sufficient for a recovery of fair value up to (or beyond) the initial cost of the investment.

        Based on our other available cash and expected operating cash flows and financing, we do not anticipate the potential lack of liquidity on these investments will affect our ability to execute our current business plan or to consummate the proposed post-closing tender offer described in Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Additionally we have received indications from certain lenders that we may borrow against the par value of the securities at competitive rates.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

        The primary source of cash from financing activities has been transactions involving our common stock, including the issuance of shares of common stock to employees. We have not utilized debt

68



financing as a significant source of cash flows. However, we do have available at certain of our international locations, credit facilities, which are described below in "Credit Facilities," that can be utilized if needed.

        For the years ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, cash flows provided by financing activities were $105.2 million and $28.0 million, respectively. The increase in cash provided by financing activities for the year ended March 31, 2008 was the result of the issuance of common stock related to employee equity incentive and stock purchase plans. The increase in stock option exercises was primarily due to the performance of our share price and the release in June 2007 of the suspension of stock option exercises implemented while we were not current with the filings we are required to make pursuant to the Exchange Act.

        During fiscal 2003, our Board of Directors authorized a buyback program under which we can repurchase up to $350.0 million of our common stock. Under the program, shares may be purchased as determined by management and within certain guidelines, from time to time, in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, including privately negotiated structured stock repurchase transactions and through transactions in the options markets. Depending on market conditions and other factors, these purchases may be commenced or suspended at any time or from time to time without prior notice. As of March 31, 2008, we had approximately $226.2 million available for utilization under the buyback program. We actively manage our capital structure as a component of our overall business strategy. Accordingly, in the future, when we determine that market conditions are appropriate, we may seek to achieve long term value for the shareholders through, among other things, new debt or equity financings or refinancings, share repurchases, and other transactions involving our equity or debt securities.

Key Balance Sheet Accounts

Accounts Receivable

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
  (amounts in thousands)

Gross accounts receivable   $ 332,831   $ 240,112   $ 92,719
Net accounts receivable     203,420     148,694     54,726

        The increase in gross accounts receivable was primarily the result of increased sales volume in the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 of our successful titles Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock leading to higher net revenues for the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 of $602.5 million compared to $312.5 million for the fourth quarter fiscal 2007.

        Reserves for returns, price protection and bad debt increased from $91.4 million at March 31, 2007 to $129.4 million at March 31, 2008 whereas reserves as a percentage of gross receivables increased from 38% to 39% at March 31, 2007 and 2008, respectively. This was the result of increases in revenues during the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 as compared to the fourth quarter fiscal 2007. Reserves for returns and price protection are a function of the number of units and pricing of titles in retail inventory, which has been consistently applied. (see description of Allowances for Returns, Price Protection, Doubtful Accounts, and Inventory Obsolescence in Item 7: Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates).

Inventories

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
  (amounts in thousands)

Inventories   $ 146,874   $ 91,231   $ 55,643

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        The increase in inventories at March 31, 2008 compared to March 31, 2007 is primarily the result of the expanding Guitar Hero franchise, and larger slate of titles when compared to fiscal 2007 across all console platforms and our continued international business growth.

Software Development

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
 
  (amounts in thousands)

 
Software development   $ 109,786   $ 130,922   $ (21,136 )

        Software development decreased from $130.9 million at March 31, 2007 to $109.8 million at March 31, 2008. The decrease in software development was primarily the result of an increase in amortization related to the increase in the number of titles released in fiscal 2008 and stock option expenses for the year ended March 31, 2008, partially offset by our continued investment in Activision's future product slate of titles.

Intellectual Property Licenses

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
 
  (amounts in thousands)

 
Intellectual Property Licenses   $ 83,551   $ 100,274   $ (16,723 )

        Intellectual property licenses decreased from $100.3 million at March 31, 2007 to $83.6 million at March 31, 2008. The decrease in intellectual property licenses primarily resulted from the amortization of intellectual property licenses upon releases of titles during fiscal 2008.

Accounts Payable

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
 
  (amounts in thousands)

 
Accounts payable   $ 129,896   $ 136,517   $ (6,621 )

        The slight decrease in accounts payable of $6.6 million from March 31, 2007 to March 31, 2008 primarily reflects the timing of the payment of several items.

Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities

 
  March 31,
2008

  March 31,
2007

  Increase/
(Decrease)

 
  (amounts in thousands)

Accrued expenses and other liabilities   $ 426,175   $ 204,652   $ 221,523

        The increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities was primarily driven by:


See Note 9 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 for details of accrued expenses and other liabilities.

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Capital Requirements

        For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, we anticipate total capital expenditures of approximately $35.6 million. Capital expenditures will be primarily for computer hardware and software purchases and various corporate projects.

Credit Facilities

        We have revolving credit facilities with our Centresoft subsidiary located in the UK (the "UK Facility") and our NBG subsidiary located in Germany (the "German Facility.")

        The UK Facility provided Centresoft with the ability to borrow up to GBP 12.0 million ($23.9 million), including issuing letters of credit, on a revolving basis as of March 31, 2008. Furthermore, under the UK Facility, Centresoft provided a GBP 0.6 million ($1.2 million) guarantee for the benefit of our CD Contact subsidiary as of March 31, 2008. The UK Facility bore interest at LIBOR plus 2.0% as of March 31, 2008, is collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the subsidiary and expires in March 2009. The UK Facility also contains various covenants that require the subsidiary to maintain specified financial ratios related to, among others, fixed charges. As of March 31, 2008, we were in compliance with these covenants.

        The German Facility provided for revolving loans up to EUR 0.5 million ($0.8 million) as of March 31, 2008, bore interest at a Eurocurrency rate plus 2.5%, is collateralized by certain of the subsidiary's property and equipment and has no expiration date. No borrowings were outstanding against the German Facility as of March 31, 2008.

        As of March 31, 2008, we maintained a $10.0 million irrevocable standby letter of credit. The standby letter of credit is required by one of our inventory manufacturers to qualify for payment terms on our inventory purchases. Under the terms of this arrangement, we are required to maintain on deposit with the bank a compensating balance, restricted as to use, of not less than the sum of the available amount of the letter of credit plus the aggregate amount of any drawings under the letter of credit that have been honored thereunder but not reimbursed. At March 31, 2008, the $10.0 million deposit is included in short-term investments as restricted cash. No borrowings were outstanding as of March 31, 2008.

        As of March 31, 2008, our publishing subsidiary located in the UK maintained a EUR 7.0 million ($11.0 million) irrevocable standby letter of credit. The standby letter of credit is required by one of our inventory manufacturers to qualify for payment terms on our inventory purchases. The standby letter of credit does not require a compensating balance and is collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the subsidiary and expires in February 2009. No borrowings were outstanding as of March 31, 2008.

Commitments

        In the normal course of business, we enter into contractual arrangements with third parties for non-cancelable operating lease agreements for our offices, for the development of products, as well as for the rights to intellectual property. Under these agreements, we commit to provide specified payments to a lessor, developer, or intellectual property holder, based upon contractual arrangements. Typically, the payments to third-party developers are conditioned upon the achievement by the developers of contractually specified development milestones. These payments to third-party developers and intellectual property holders typically are deemed to be advances and are recoupable against future royalties earned by the developer or intellectual property holder based on the sale of the related game. Additionally, in connection with certain intellectual property right acquisitions and development agreements, we will commit to spend specified amounts for marketing support for the related game(s) which is to be developed or in which the intellectual property will be utilized. Additionally, we lease certain of our

71



facilities and equipment under non-cancelable operating lease agreements. Assuming all contractual provisions are met, the total future minimum commitments for these and other contractual arrangements in place as of March 31, 2008, are scheduled to be paid as follows (amounts in thousands):

 
  Contractual Obligations(1)
 
  Facility &
Equipment
Leases

  Developer &
IP

  Marketing
  Total
Fiscal years ending March 31,                        
  2009   $ 19,343   $ 110,771   $ 41,401   $ 171,515
  2010     17,028     31,041     22,100     70,169
  2011     14,553     34,086     13,100     61,739
  2012     10,256     16,586         26,842
  2013     8,791     21,586         30,377
  Thereafter     31,201     26,001         57,202
   
 
 
 
    Total   $ 101,172   $ 240,071   $ 76,601   $ 417,844
   
 
 
 

(1)
We have omitted FIN 48 liabilities from this table due to the inherent uncertainty regarding the timing of potential issue resolution. Specifically, either (a) the underlying positions have not been fully enough developed under audit to quantify at this time or, (b) the years relating to the issues for certain jurisdictions are not currently under audit. At the adoption date of April 1, 2007, we had $65.5 million of unrecognized tax benefits. At March 31, 2008, we had $74.2 million of unrecognized tax benefits.

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

        As of March 31, 2008 and 2007, we did not have any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial parties, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. As such, we do not have any off balance sheet arrangements and are not exposed to any financing, liquidity, market, or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in such relationships.

Financial Disclosure

        We maintain internal control over financial reporting, which generally include those controls relating to the preparation of our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. We also are focused on our "disclosure controls and procedures," which as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission are generally those controls and procedures designed to ensure that financial and non-financial information required to be disclosed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms, and that such information is communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officers and our Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

        Our Disclosure Committee, which operates under the Board approved Disclosure Committee Charter and Disclosure Controls & Procedures Policy, includes senior management representatives and assists executive management in its oversight of the accuracy and timeliness of our disclosures, as well as in implementing and evaluating our overall disclosure process. As part of our disclosure process, senior finance and operational representatives from all of our corporate divisions and business units prepare quarterly reports regarding their current quarter operational performance, future trends, subsequent events, internal controls, changes in internal controls, and other accounting and disclosure-

72



relevant information. These quarterly reports are reviewed by certain key corporate finance representatives. These corporate finance representatives also conduct quarterly interviews on a rotating basis with the preparers of selected quarterly reports. The results of the quarterly reports and related interviews are reviewed by the Disclosure Committee. Finance representatives also conduct reviews with our senior management team, our internal and external counsel, and other appropriate personnel involved in the disclosure process, as appropriate. Additionally, senior finance and operational representatives provide internal certifications regarding the accuracy of information they provide that is utilized in the preparation of our periodic public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial results and other financial information also are reviewed with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. As required by applicable regulatory requirements, the Chief Executive Officers and the Chief Financial Officer review and make various certifications regarding the accuracy of our periodic public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, our disclosure controls and procedures, and our internal control over financial reporting. With the assistance of the Disclosure Committee, we will continue to assess and monitor our disclosure controls and procedures, and our internal control over financial reporting, and will make refinements as necessary.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

        In December 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 141(R), Business Combinations ("SFAS No. 141(R).") This Statement provides greater consistency in the accounting and financial reporting of business combinations. It requires the acquiring entity in a business combination to recognize all assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the transaction, establishes the acquisition-date fair value as the measurement objective for all assets acquired and liabilities assumed, and requires the acquirer to disclose the nature and financial effect of the business combination. Also in December 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 160. Non-controlling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements ("SFAS No. 160.") This Statement amends Accounting Research Bulletin No. 51, Consolidated Financial Statements, to establish accounting and reporting standards for the non-controlling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. SFAS No. 141(R) and SFAS No. 160 are required to be adopted simultaneously and are effective for the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008 with earlier adoption being prohibited. We do not currently have any non-controlling interests in our subsidiaries, and accordingly the adoption of SFAS No. 160 is not expected to have a material impact on our financial statements. We are currently evaluating the impact from the adoption of SFAS No. 141R on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

        In September 2006, the FASB issued Statement No. 157 ("SFAS No. 157"), Fair Value Measurements. SFAS No. 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 applies to other accounting pronouncements that require or permit fair value measurements and does not require any new fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007 for financial assets and liabilities and is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for non-financial assets and liabilities. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 is not expected to have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.

        In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115 ("SFAS No. 159.") SFAS No. 159 permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. Subsequent unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value option has been elected will be reported in earnings. The provisions of SFAS No. 159 are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of SFAS No. 159 is not expected to have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.

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        In June 2007, the FASB ratified the Emerging Issues Task Force's ("EITF") consensus conclusion on EITF 07-03, Accounting for Advance Payments for Goods or Services to Be Used in Future Research and Development. EITF 07-03 addresses the diversity which exists with respect to the accounting for the non-refundable portion of a payment made by a research and development entity for future research and development activities. Under this conclusion, an entity is required to defer and capitalize non-refundable advance payments made for research and development activities until the related goods are delivered or the related services are performed. EITF 07-03 is effective for interim or annual reporting periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2007 and requires prospective application for new contracts entered into after the effective date. The adoption of EITF 07-03 is not expected to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

        In March 2008, the FASB issued Statement No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities-an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133 ("SFAS No. 161.") SFAS No. 161 changes the disclosure requirements for derivative instruments and hedging activities. Entities are required to provide enhanced disclosures about (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for under Statement No. 133 and its related interpretations, and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. The guidance in SFAS No. 161 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. SFAS No. 161 encourages, but does not require, comparative disclosures for earlier periods at initial adoption. We are currently assessing the impact of SFAS No. 161.

Inflation

        Our management currently believes that inflation has not had a material impact on continuing operations.

Item 7A.    QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

        Market risk is the potential loss arising from fluctuations in market rates and prices. Our market risk exposures primarily include fluctuations in interest rates, currency exchange rates, and market prices. Our market risk sensitive instruments are classified as instruments entered into for purposes "other than trading." Our views on market risk are not necessarily indicative of actual results that may occur and do not represent the maximum possible gains and losses that may occur, since actual gains and losses will differ from those estimated, based upon actual fluctuations in interest rates, currency exchange rates, market prices, and the timing of transactions.

Interest Rate Risk

        Our exposure to market rate risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our investment portfolio. We do not use derivative financial instruments in our investment portfolio. We manage our interest rate risk by maintaining an investment portfolio consisting primarily of debt instruments with high credit quality and relatively short average maturities. We also manage our interest rate risk by maintaining sufficient cash and cash equivalent balances such that we are typically able to hold our investments to maturity. As of March 31, 2008, our cash equivalents and short-term investments included debt securities of $1,171.4 million. Also, as of March 31, 2008, we classified our investments in auction rate securities of $91.2 million as long-term investments (see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 for summary of significant accounting policies.)

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        The following table presents the amounts and related weighted average interest rates of our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2008 (amounts in thousands):

 
  Average
Interest Rate

  Amortized
Cost

  Fair
Value

Cash equivalents:                
  Variable rate   3.09 % $ 1,129,980   $ 1,129,980

Short-term investments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Fixed rate   5.21 % $ 41,619   $ 41,411

Long-term investments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Variable rate   6.09 % $ 95,538   $ 91,215

        Our short-term investments generally mature between three months and thirty months.

Currency Exchange Rate Risk

        We transact business in many different foreign currencies and may be exposed to financial market risk resulting from fluctuations in currency exchange rates, particularly EUR, GBP, and AUD. The volatility of EUR, GBP, and AUD (and all other applicable currencies) will be monitored frequently throughout the coming year. When appropriate, we enter into hedging transactions in order to mitigate our risk from currency fluctuations. We will continue to use hedging programs in the future and may use currency forward contracts, currency options, and/or other derivative financial instruments commonly utilized to reduce financial market risks if it is determined that such hedging activities are appropriate to reduce risk. We do not hold or purchase any currency contracts for trading purposes. As of March 31, 2008, we had no outstanding exchange forward contracts. As of March 31, 2007, accrued expenses included approximately $90,000 of pre-tax unrealized losses for the estimated fair value of outstanding currency exchange forward contracts.

Market Price Risk

        With regard to the structured stock repurchase transactions described in Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8, at those times when we have structured stock repurchase transactions outstanding, it is possible that at settlement we could take delivery of shares at an effective repurchase price higher than the then market price. As of March 31, 2008, we had no structured stock repurchase transactions outstanding.

Item 8.    CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm   F-1

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2008 and 2007

 

F-2

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended March 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006

 

F-3

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders' Equity for the Years Ended March 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006

 

F-4

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended March 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006

 

F-5

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

 

F-6

Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts as of March 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006

 

F-49

Item 15. Exhibit Index

 

E-1

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        Other financial statement schedules are omitted because the information called for is not applicable or is shown either in the consolidated financial statements or the notes thereto.

Item 9.    CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES

        None.

Item 9A.    CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

1) Definition and Limitations of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.

        Our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) are designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that it will detect or uncover failures within the Company to disclose material information otherwise required to be set forth in our periodic reports. Inherent limitations to any system of disclosure controls and procedures include, but are not limited to, the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of such controls by one or more persons. In addition, we have designed our system of controls based on certain assumptions, which we believe are reasonable, about the likelihood of future events, and our system of controls may therefore not achieve its desired objectives under all possible future events.

2) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.

        Our management, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2008. Based on this controls evaluation, and subject to the limitations described above, the Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported on a timely basis.

3) Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

        Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness, as of March 31, 2008, of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission ("COSO") in Internal Control—Integrated Framework. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of March 31, 2008.

        Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risks that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies and procedures may deteriorate.

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        The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2008 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report included in this annual report on Form 10-K.

4) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

        There have not been any changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

Item 9B.    OTHER INFORMATION

        None.

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PART III

Item 10.    DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

        The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections of our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, entitled "Proposal 1—Election of Directors," "Executive Officers and Key Employees," "Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance," "Corporate Governance Matters—Code of Ethics for Senior Executive and Senior Financial Officers" and "Corporate Governance Matters—Board of Directors and Committees—Audit Committee" to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Item 11.    EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

        The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections of our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, entitled "Executive Compensation," "Director Compensation" and "Compensation Committee Report" to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Item 12.    SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS

        The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections of our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, entitled "Equity Compensation Plan Information" and "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management" to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Item 13.    CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

        The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections of our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, entitled "Certain Relationships and Related Transactions" and "Corporate Governance Matters—Board of Directors and Committees—Director Independence" to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Item 14.    PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

        The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections of our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, entitled "Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm's Fees" to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

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PART IV

Item 15.    EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULE

Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts



  2.1  

 

Business Combination Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and among Activision, Inc., Sego Merger Corporation, Vivendi S.A., VGAC LLC and Vivendi Games, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

  3.1

 

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Activision Holdings, dated June 9, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.5 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed June 16, 2000).

  3.2

 

Certificate of Amendment of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Activision Holdings dated as of June 9, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.7 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed June 16, 2000).

  3.3

 

Certificate of Designation of Series A Junior Preferred Stock of Activision, Inc. dated as of December 27, 2001 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2001).

  3.4

 

Certificate of Amendment of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, of Activision, Inc., dated as of April 4, 2005 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed April 5, 2005).

  3.5

 

Certificate of Designation of Series A Junior Preferred Stock of Activision, Inc. dated August 4, 2005 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed August 5, 2005).

  3.6

 

Third Amended and Restated By-Laws of Activision, Inc., dated September 27, 2007 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.6 to Activision's Registration Statement on Form S-8, Registration No. 333-146431, filed October 1, 2007).

  4.1

 

Rights Agreement dated as of April 18, 2000, between Activision. Inc. and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, which includes as exhibits the form of Right Certificates as Exhibit A, the Summary of Rights to Purchase Series A Junior Preferred Stock as Exhibit B and the form of Certificate of Designation of Series A Junior Preferred Stock of Activision as Exhibit C, (incorporated by reference to Activision's Registration Statement on Form 8-A, Registration No. 001-15839, filed April 19, 2000).

  4.2

 

Amendment No. 1 to the Rights Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as rights agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.1

 

Activision, Inc. 1991 Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2002).

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10.2

 

Amendment to the 1991 Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.3

 

Activision, Inc. 1998 Incentive Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001).

10.4

 

Amendment to the 1998 Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.5

 

Activision, Inc. 1999 Incentive Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002).

10.6

 

Amendment to the 1999 Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.7

 

Activision, Inc. 2001 Incentive Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002).

10.8

 

Amendment to the 2001 Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.9

 

Activision, Inc. 2002 Incentive Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2003).

10.10

 

Amendment to the 2002 Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.11

 

Activision, Inc. 2002 Executive Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of Activision's Form S-8, Registration No. 333-100114 filed September 26, 2002).

10.12

 

Amendment to the 2002 Executive Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.13

 

Activision, Inc. 2002 Studio Employee Retention Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of Activision's Form S-8, Registration No. 333-103323 filed February 19, 2003).

10.14

 

Amendment to the 2002 Studio Employee Retention Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.15

 

Activision, Inc. Third Amended and Restated 2002 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed October 23, 2006).

10.16

 

Activision, Inc. Second Amended and Restated 2002 Employee Stock Purchase Plan for International Employees (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed October 23, 2006).

10.17

 

Activision, Inc. Sub-Plan to the Second Amended And Restated 2002 Employee Stock Purchase Plan for International Employees for Eligible Employees in the European Economic Area.

10.18

 

Australian Addendum to the Activision, Inc. Sub-Plan to the Second Amended And Restated 2002 Employee Stock Purchase Plan for International Employees for Eligible Employees.

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10.19

 

Activision, Inc. Amended and Restated 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005).

10.20

 

Amendment to the 2003 Executive Incentive Plan, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 of Activision's Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 20, 2006).

10.21

 

Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to Activision's Registration Statement on Form S-8, Registration No. 333-146431, filed October 1, 2007).

10.22

 

Australian Addendum to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan.

10.23

 

Form of Stock Option Certificate for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 1998 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed May 31, 2005).

10.24

 

Form of Stock Option Certificate for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 1999 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed May 31, 2005).

10.25

 

Form of Stock Option Agreement for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 2001 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed May 31, 2005).

10.26

 

Form of Stock Option Agreement for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 2002 Executive Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed May 31, 2005).

10.27

 

Form of Executive Stock Option Agreement for grants to Robert Kotick or Brian Kelly issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.40 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2005).

10.28

 

Form of Non-Executive Stock Option Agreement for grants to persons other than Robert Kotick or Brian Kelly and non-employee directors issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.41 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2005).

10.29

 

Form of Non-Employee Director Stock Option Agreement for grants to non-employee directors issued pursuant the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.17 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.30

 

Notice of Share Option Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.18 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.31

 

Notice of Share Option Award for grants to non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.19 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.32

 

Notice of Restricted Share Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.20 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.33

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2003 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.21 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

81



10.34

 

Notice of Stock Option Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.35

 

Notice of Stock Option Award for grants to non-employee directors pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.36

 

Notice of Restricted Share Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.11 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.37

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award for grants to persons other than non-employee directors issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.38

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award for grants to non-employee directors upon their initial election to the board or upon their tenth continuous year of service on the board issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.39

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award for grants to non-employee directors upon their reelection to the board (other than in connection with 10 years of continuous service) issued pursuant to the Activision, Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).

10.40

 

Employment Agreement, dated July 22, 2002, between Ronald Doornink and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002).

10.41

 

Amendment, dated February 27, 2003, to Employment Agreement dated July 22, 2002 between Activision Publishing, Inc. and Ronald Doornink (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.34 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2005).

10.42

 

Amendment, dated June 1, 2004, to Employment Agreement dated July 22, 2002, between Activision Publishing, Inc. and Ronald Doornink (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2004).

10.43

 

Amendment, dated June 15, 2005, to Employment Agreement dated July 22, 2002 between Activision Publishing, Inc. and Ronald Doornink (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005).

10.44

 

Amendment, dated June 4, 2007, to Employment Agreement dated July 22, 2002 between Activision Publishing, Inc. and Ronald Doornink (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007).

10.45

 

Employment Agreement, dated June 15, 2005, between Michael Griffith and Activision Publishing, Inc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005).

10.46

 

Amendment to Employment Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Michael Griffith (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.47

 

Stock Option Agreement, dated June 15, 2005, between Michael Griffith and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005).

82



10.48

 

Restricted Stock Agreement, dated June 15, 2005, between Michael Griffith and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005).

10.49

 

Employment Agreement, dated September 9, 2005, between Thomas Tippl and Activision Publishing, Inc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005).

10.50

 

Stock Option Agreement, dated October 3, 2005, between Thomas Tippl and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005).

10.51

 

Restricted Stock Agreement, dated October 3, 2005, between Thomas Tippl and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005).

10.52

 

Employment Agreement, dated September 18, 2006, between Brian Hodous and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2006).

10.53

 

Letter Agreement, dated September 6, 2006, between Brian Hodous and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.44 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.54

 

Notice of Share Option Award to, dated as of November 3, 2006, to Brian Hodous (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.45 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.55

 

Notice of Restricted Stock Award, dated as of November 3, 2006, to Brian Hodous (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.46 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.56

 

Notice of Restricted Stock Award, dated as of November 3, 2006, to Brian Hodous (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.47 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.57

 

Employment Agreement, dated October 1, 2006, between Robin Kaminsky and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2006).

10.58

 

Notice of Share Option Award to Robin Kaminsky, dated as of October 19, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.59

 

Notice of Share Option Award to Robin Kaminsky, dated as of October 19, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.60

 

Notice of Restricted Stock Award to Robin Kaminsky, dated as of October 19, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.61

 

Notice of Restricted Stock Award to Robin Kaminsky, dated as of October 19, 2006, between Activision and Robin Kaminsky (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

83



10.62

 

Employment Agreement, dated September 11, 2007, between George Rose and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.63

 

Notice of Share Option Award to George Rose, dated September 28, 2007 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.64

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award to George Rose, dated September 28, 2007 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.65

 

Employment Agreement, dated September 12, 2007, between Ann Weiser and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.66

 

Notice of Share Option Award to Ann Weiser, dated September 28, 2007 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.67

 

Notice of Restricted Share Unit Award to Ann Weiser, dated September 28, 2007 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.15 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.68

 

Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Robert A. Kotick (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.69

 

Replacement Bonus Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Robert A. Kotick (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.70

 

Stock Option Agreement, dated May 22, 2000, between Activision, Inc. and Robert A. Kotick (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2000).

10.71

 

Notice of Stock Option Award to Robert A. Kotick, dated December 5, 2007.

10.72

 

Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Brian G. Kelly (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.73

 

Replacement Bonus Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and between Activision, Inc. and Brian G. Kelly (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.74

 

Stock Option Agreement, dated May 22, 2000, between Activision, Inc. and Brian G. Kelly (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2000).

10.75

 

PlayStation 2 CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Licensed Publisher Agreement, dated as of April 1, 2000, between Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 of Activision's Form S-3, Registration No. 333-101271, filed January 14, 2003).*

84



10.76

 

Letter regarding Modification of Territory for PlayStation 2 CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Licensed Publisher Agreement, dated as of June 11, 2004, from Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. to Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.50 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.77

 

PlayStation 2 Licensed Publisher Agreement, dated as of March 23, 2001, between Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Activision UK Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 of Activision's Form S-3, Registration No. 333-101271, filed January 14, 2003).*

10.78

 

PlayStation Portable ("PSP") Licensed PSP Publisher Agreement, dated September 15, 2004, between Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.46 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2005).*

10.79

 

PlayStation Portable ("PSP") Licensed PSP Publisher Agreement, dated September 27, 2005, between Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Activision UK Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.60 of Activision's Form 10-K for year ended March 31, 2006).*

10.80

 

Global PlayStation 3 Format Licensed Publisher Agreement, dated March 5, 2007, between Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. and Activision. Inc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.54 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).*

10.81

 

Confidential License Agreement for the Nintendo DS (Western Hemisphere), dated as of October 11, 2004, between Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.82

 

First Amendment to Confidential License Agreement for Nintendo DS (Western Hemisphere), dated as of July 16, 2007, between Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.83

 

License Agreement for the Nintendo DS System (EEA, Australia and New Zealand), dated June 20, 2006, between Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.61 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).*

10.84

 

Confidential License Agreement for the Wii Console (Western Hemisphere), dated September 12, 2007, between Nintendo of America, Inc. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).*

10.85

 

Confidential License Agreement for the Wii Console (EEA, Australia and New Zealand), dated December 3, 2007, between Nintendo Co., Ltd., Activision, Inc. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).*

10.86

 

Microsoft Corporation Xbox 360 Publisher License Agreement, dated as of October 25, 2005, between Microsoft Licensing, GP and Activision Publishing, Inc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2005).*

10.87

 

Xbox 360 Disc Program Addendum to the Xbox 360 Publisher License Agreement, dated as of December 15, 2005, between Microsoft Licensing, GP and Activision Publishing, Inc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2005).*

85



10.88

 

Amendment to the Xbox 360 Publisher Licensing Agreement (Platinum/Classic Hits Program), dated as of October 1, 2006, by and between Microsoft Licensing, GP and Activision, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.68 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).*

10.89

 

Xbox Live Server Platform Addendum to the Xbox 360 Publisher Licensing Agreement, dated as of February 6, 2007, by and between Microsoft Licensing, GP and Activision Publishing, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.69 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007).

10.90

 

Chart of Compensation Paid to Non-Employee Directors (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 of Activision's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007).

10.91

 

Voting and Lock-Up Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and among Activision, Inc., Vivendi S.A. and Robert A. Kotick (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

10.92

 

Voting and Lock-Up Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2007, by and among Activision, Inc., Vivendi S.A. and Brian G. Kelly (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Activision's Form 8-K, filed December 6, 2007).

14.1

 

Code of Ethics for Senior Executive and Senior Financial Officers (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14.1 of Activision's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2004).

21.1

 

Principal subsidiaries of Activision.

23.1

 

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

31.1

 

Certification of Robert A. Kotick pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

31.2

 

Certification of Michael Griffith pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

31.3

 

Certification of Thomas Tippl pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

32.1

 

Certification of Robert A. Kotick pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

32.2

 

Certification of Michael Griffith pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

32.3

 

Certification of Thomas Tippl pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

99.1

 

Risk Factors from Preliminary Proxy Statement Filed by Activision on April 30, 2008.

99.2

 

Stipulation of Settlement, dated May 8, 2008 in In re Activision, Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation.

99.3

 

Order Preliminarily Approving Derivative Settlement and Providing for Notice, dated May 13, 2008 in In re Activision, Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation.

*
Portions omitted pursuant to a request for confidential treatment.

86



SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Date: May 30, 2008  

ACTIVISION, INC.

 

By:

/s/  
MICHAEL GRIFFITH      
Michael Griffith
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Activision Publishing, Inc.
(Principal Executive Officer)

 

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By:   /s/  ROBERT A. KOTICK      
(Robert A. Kotick)
  Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Activision, Inc., and Director   May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
BRIAN G. KELLY      
(Brian G. Kelly)

 

Co-Chairman and Director

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
MICHAEL GRIFFITH      
(Michael Griffith)

 

President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, Inc. and Principal Executive Officer of Activision, Inc.

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
THOMAS TIPPL      
(Thomas Tippl)

 

Chief Financial Officer of Activision Publishing, Inc. and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of Activision, Inc.

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
ROBERT J. CORTI      
(Robert J. Corti)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
RONALD DOORNINK      
(Ronald Doornink)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
BARBARA S. ISGUR      
(Barbara S. Isgur)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

87



By:

 

/s/  
ROBERT J. MORGADO      
(Robert J. Morgado)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
PETER J. NOLAN      
(Peter J. Nolan)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

By:

 

/s/  
RICHARD SARNOFF      
(Richard Sarnoff)

 

Director

 

May 30, 2008

88



Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Activision, Inc.:

        In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements listed in the index appearing under Item 8, present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Activision, Inc. and its subsidiaries at March 31, 2008 and 2007, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended March 31, 2008 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In addition, in our opinion, the financial statement schedule listed in the index appearing under Item 8 presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction with the related consolidated financial statements. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company's management is responsible for these financial statements and financial statement schedule, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements, on the financial statement schedule, and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

        As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for share-based compensation in fiscal 2007. As discussed in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for uncertain tax positions in fiscal 2008.

        A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

        Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Los Angeles, California
May 30, 2008

F-1



ACTIVISION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Amounts in thousands, except share data)

 
  As of March 31,
 
  2008
  2007
Assets            
  Current assets:            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 1,396,250   $ 384,409
    Short-term investments     52,962     570,440
    Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $129,411 and $91,418 at March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively     203,420     148,694
    Inventories     146,874     91,231
    Software development     96,182     107,779
    Intellectual property licenses     18,661     27,784
    Deferred income taxes     41,242     51,564
    Other current assets     23,804     19,332
   
 
      Total current assets     1,979,395     1,401,233
  Long-term investments     91,215    
  Software development     13,604     23,143
  Intellectual property licenses     64,890     72,490
  Property and equipment, net     54,528     46,540
  Deferred income taxes     32,825     48,791
  Other assets     15,055     6,376
  Goodwill     279,161     195,374
   
 
      Total assets   $ 2,530,673   $ 1,793,947
   
 
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity            
  Current liabilities:            
    Accounts payable   $ 129,896   $ 136,517
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities     426,175     204,652
   
 
      Total current liabilities     556,071     341,169
  Other liabilities     26,710     41,246
   
 
      Total liabilities     582,781     382,415
  Commitments and contingencies (Note 13)            
  Shareholders' equity:            
    Preferred stock, $.000001 par value, 3,750,000 shares authorized, no shares issued at March 31, 2008 and 2007        
    Series A Junior Preferred stock, $.000001 par value, 1,250,000 shares authorized, no shares issued at March 31, 2008 and 2007        
    Common stock, $.000001 par value and 450,000,000 shares authorized, 294,651,325 and 283,310,734 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively        
    Additional paid-in capital     1,148,880     963,553
    Retained earnings     772,660     427,777
    Accumulated other comprehensive income     26,352     20,202
   
 
      Total shareholders' equity     1,947,892     1,411,532
   
 
      Total liabilities and shareholders' equity   $ 2,530,673   $ 1,793,947
   
 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

F-2



ACTIVISION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Amounts in thousands, except per share data)

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
 
  2008
  2007
  2006
Net revenues   $ 2,898,136   $ 1,513,012   $ 1,468,000
Costs and expenses:                  
  Cost of sales—product costs     1,240,605     799,587     734,874
  Cost of sales—software royalties and amortization     294,279     132,353     147,822
  Cost of sales—intellectual property licenses     110,551     46,125     57,666
  Product development     269,535     133,073     132,651
  Sales and marketing     308,143     196,213     283,395
  General and administrative     195,409     132,514     96,366
   
 
 
    Total costs and expenses     2,418,522     1,439,865     1,452,774
   
 
 
Income from operations     479,614     73,147     15,226
Investment income, net     51,254     36,678     30,630
   
 
 
    Income before income tax provision     530,868     109,825     45,856
Income tax provision     185,985     24,038     5,605
   
 
 
Net income   $ 344,883   $ 85,787   $ 40,251
   
 
 
Basic earnings per share   $ 1.19   $ 0.31   $ 0.15
   
 
 
Weighted average common shares outstanding     288,957     281,114     273,177
   
 
 
Diluted earnings per share   $ 1.10   $ 0.28   $ 0.14
   
 
 
Weighted average common shares outstanding—assuming dilution     314,731     305,339     294,002
   
 
 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

F-3



ACTIVISION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006

(Amounts in thousands)

 
  Common Stock
   
   
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)

   
   
 
 
  Additional
Paid-In
Capital

  Retained
Earnings

  Unearned
Compensation

  Shareholders'
Equity

 
 
  Shares
  Amount
 
Balance, March 31, 2005   268,041   $   $ 783,917   $ 301,739   $ 11,618   $   $ 1,097,274  
Components of comprehensive income:                                          
  Net income for the year               40,251             40,251  
  Unrealized appreciation on short-term investments, net of taxes                   10,576         10,576  
  Foreign currency translation adjustment                   (5,825 )       (5,825 )
                                     
 
    Total comprehensive income                                       45,002  
Issuance of common stock to employees   8,782         45,188                 45,188  
Stock-based compensation           2,632                 2,632  
Restricted stock grant           3,500             (3,500 )    
Cash distribution for fractional shares   (7 )       (100 )               (100 )
Amortization of unearned compensation                       467     467  
Tax benefit attributable to employee stock options and common stock warrants           29,367                 29,367  
Issuance of common stock to effect business combinations   205         2,793                 2,793  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance, March 31, 2006   277,021         867,297     341,990     16,369     (3,033 )   1,222,623  
Components of comprehensive income:                                          
  Net income for the year               85,787             85,787  
  Unrealized depreciation on short-term investments, net of taxes                   (8,224 )       (8,224 )
  Foreign currency translation adjustment                   12,057         12,057  
                                     
 
    Total comprehensive income                                       89,620  
Issuance of common stock to employees   3,532         18,956                 18,956  
Stock-based compensation           32,077                 32,077  
Tax benefit attributable to employee stock options and common stock warrants           11,338                 11,338  
Issuance of common stock to effect business combinations   2,758         36,918                 36,918  
Reclassification of unearned compensation           (3,033 )           3,033      
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance, March 31, 2007   283,311         963,553     427,777     20,202         1,411,532  
Components of comprehensive income:                                          
  Net income for the year               344,883             344,883  
  Unrealized depreciation on investments, net of taxes                   (1,896 )       (1,896 )
  Foreign currency translation adjustment                   8,046         8,046  
                                     
 
    Total comprehensive income                                       351,033  
Issuance of common stock pursuant to employee stock options, restricted stock rights, employee stock purchase plans and employee bonuses   9,954         49,869                 49,869  
Stock-based compensation expense related to employee stock options, restricted stock rights, and employee stock purchase plans           55,322                 55,322  
Tax benefit associated with employee stock options           57,335                 57,335  
Issuance of common stock to effect business combinations (see note 8)   1,386         25,864                 25,864  
Employee tender offer (see note 14)           (3,063 )               (3,063 )
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance, March 31, 2008   294,651   $   $ 1,148,880   $ 772,660   $ 26,352   $   $ 1,947,892  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

F-4



ACTIVISION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Amounts in thousands)

 
  For the fiscal years ended March 31,
 
 
  2008
  2007
  2006
 
Cash flows from operating activities:                    
  Net income   $ 344,883   $ 85,787   $ 40,251  
  Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:                    
    Deferred income taxes     24,550     (44,092 )   (28,453 )
    Depreciation and amortization     34,128     30,155     14,634  
    Loss on disposal of property and equipment     1,522          
    Realized gain on sale of short term investments     (1,103 )   (1,823 )   (4,297 )
    Amortization and write-offs of capitalized software development costs and intellectual property licenses(1)     209,419     91,456     173,602  
    Stock-based compensation expense(2)     53,565     25,522     3,099  
    Tax benefit of stock options and warrants exercised     57,335     11,338     29,367  
    Excess tax benefits from stock option exercises     (57,151 )   (9,012 )    
  Change in operating assets and liabilities (net of effects of acquisitions):                    
    Accounts receivable, net     (52,416 )   (108,802 )   80,405  
    Inventories     (55,643 )   (26,124 )   (13,465 )
    Software development and intellectual property licenses     (168,768 )   (166,138 )   (193,927 )
    Other assets     (11,816 )   7,294     (2,038 )
    Accounts payable     (6,497 )   41,115     (19,985 )
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities     201,492     90,486     6,814  
   
 
 
 
    Net cash provided by operating activities     573,500     27,162     86,007  
   
 
 
 
Cash flows from investing activities:                    
  Cash used in business acquisitions (net of cash acquired)     (68,797 )   (30,545 )   (6,890 )
  Capital expenditures     (29,400 )   (17,935 )   (30,406 )
  Proceeds from disposal of property and equipment     243          
  Increase in restricted cash     (4,050 )       (7,500 )
  Purchase of investments     (556,643 )   (479,533 )   (242,568 )
  Proceeds from sales and maturities of investments     984,938     492,771     201,568  
   
 
 
 
  Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities     326,291     (35,242 )   (85,796 )
   
 
 
 
Cash flows from financing activities:                    
  Proceeds from issuance of common stock to employees and common stock pursuant to warrants     48,012     18,956     45,088  
  Excess tax benefits from stock option exercises     57,151     9,012      
   
 
 
 
  Net cash provided by financing activities     105,163     27,968     45,088  
   
 
 
 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash     6,887     10,190     (4,576 )
   
 
 
 
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents     1,011,841     30,078     40,723  
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     384,409     354,331     313,608  
   
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $ 1,396,250   $ 384,409   $ 354,331  
   
 
 
 

(1)
Excludes amortization of stock-based compensation expense.

(2)
Includes the net effects of capitalization and amortization of stock-based compensation expense.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

F-5