GameDAILY is reporting (thanks NewDoom.com) that RBC Capital Markets has issued a research brief in advance of Activision"s releasing financial details from its first quarter next Tuesday. One area RBC expresses some concern with is the release of Doom III, in development by id Software. The investment firm, citing the release schedules of various retail website (not the most reliable sources, but semi-useful for informative purposes), as now showing a Doom III release date in March of 2004, as opposed to a previously expected street date of this November:
RBC wonders how a later release of Doom III would affect Activision in the current fiscal year, as it has projected the anticipated PC game to contribute $68.0 million in revenues and $0.10 per share in Activision"s third-quarter and $26.0 million and $0.04 per share in the company"s fourth quarter. While RBC notes that a delay in the game"s release from the third to fourth quarter could result in a fiscal year drop of approximately $27.0 million in revenue, it adds that any loss would be merely tacked on to the next fiscal year"s results.