Activision have this evening announced their first-quarter 2009 financial results, revenue up at a whopping 981 million USD for the period, with profits also an impressive 179 million USD.

"Our better-than-expected first quarter results were driven by strong global consumer response to the and franchises and Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, despite challenging economic times," explained.

"For the quarter, we were the #1 third-party console and handheld publisher in North America and the #1 third-party publisher for the platform worldwide, according to The Group, Charttrack and Gfk."

Revenue was higher than predicted for the quarter, helped by 34 million Guitar Hero track sales, while Guitar Hero World Tour was also described as the best selling third-party game released in North America and Europe.

By Luke Guttridge