Is Activision Using Zombie Publisher To Relaunch Mobile Ambitions?

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) announced yesterday that they've stepped directly into the iPhone Game App publishing fray with the release of Call of Duty: World At War: ZOMBIES, based on Treyarch's uber-successful console franchise. The 3-D, multi-player, Nazi zombie killer (is zombie it's own sub-genre yet?) was built by quality UK developer Ideaworks and retails in the US for $9.99. Initial user ratings are pretty good, but there aren't enough of them yet for it to be meaningful and we'll have to wait to see what the professionals say. I think there are 2 significant things to takeaway from this release:

1) This move makes it pretty clear that Activision licensee Glu Mobile (GLUU), which just released their Call of Duty: World At War: Force Recon mobile game on other platforms, is not going to be publishing Activision titles on iPhone anytime soon. Moreover, while this may just be a toe in the water, I think it probably means that Activison Blizzard is re-ramping their mobile publishing ambitions.

2) Assuming I'm right on the point above, then its super-ironic that Activision is using the account of the mobile games publishing unit they briefly had post-merger with Vivendi Games, and summarily dismantled last year to focus on licensing. Currently, in the App Store, Call of Duty: World At War: ZOMBIES appears as a Vivendi Games Mobile title. The good news is that under that moniker COD is in great company... VGM's only other title Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D continues to rock the Top 100 more than a year after release and is one of the all-time top grossing Apps on iTunes! The bad (sad) news is that Activision's lack of foresight (or patience) resulted in their losing a high-quality global team and to the extent they are rebuilding, it will inevitably cost them much more than if they had left Vivendi Games Mobile intact.

Oh, The Irony!....Crash Bandicoot is All-Time Top Paid iPhone App

I can't help but feel sad about the fact that Apple is reporting, as part of the celebration of their 1bil Apps milestone, that Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D published by now defunct Vivendi Games Mobile, is their all-time top paid App. Vivendi Games Mobile (VGM) was a publisher with a great team (led by mobile games vet Paul Maglione) and great potential (with innovative studios like Centerscore)...that was just beginning to hit stride when corporate parent Vivendi decided to merge their interactive games business (including trophy studio Blizzard) with Activision, to create ~$3bil 2008 Rev gaming giant Activision Blizzard (ATVI). The merger put Activision leadership in top company positions and it became clear pretty quickly that they weren't very interested in mobile games development and publishing...and, rather, looked at it as a licensing opportunity with VGM's competitor Glu Mobile. Activision Blizzard began dismantling the mobile businesses in US and Europe at the end of last Summer. This always felt like a short-sighted move to me...but, then again, short-sightedness is more contagious than Swine Flu in the mobile entertainment space these days. The good news is that the core US team has re-emerged at NY-based Sonic Boom...from which we are bound to see great things. In the meantime, the Crash/Apple announcement will serve as a reminder of what might have been... Congratulations?