Activision Scared of...World of Warcraft?

Activision's most recent investor report lists several World of Warcraft-related concerns as "risk factors" for fiscal 2010. The loss of Chinese revenue due to licensing issues, worry that the game could become "obsolete", and an over-dependence on WoW as a proportion of overall Activision revenue are all brought up.

It's important to note that presenting these "risk factors" is an SEC requirement. Publicly traded companies have to dream up worst-case scenarios and present them to possible investors. So, is WoW going to become obsolete in 2010? Of course not, not with Cataclysm coming and a healthy playerbase. But if it did, Activision would be in trouble. Congratulations, you're an educated investor!

Another interesting tidbit from the report is the admission of a decline in 2009 revenue for Blizzard (which didn't release a product last year). WoW may be a beast, but apparently sales of non-combat pets can't quite compete with launching a $60 boxed game -- at least if you donate half of it to charity.

Even if Blizzard doesn't keep raking in cash at a record-setting pace, it's a good thing that Activision has a stable pool of talent to keep churning out Call of Duty games...oh, wait.

[via Joystiq]