"Immense pressure" for console Diablo III won't turn to force from Activision

Speaking under conditions of anonymity, a highly-placed source close to Vivendi has told VG247 that, despite comments from Blizzard to the contrary over the weekend, a newly-formed Activision-Blizzard may see a console version of Diablo III as a no-brainer.

"Blizzard will face immense pressure to produce a console version of Diablo III," we were told. "If Kotick says, 'We can sell 10 million units of a console version' - and he will, because they can - it's an obvious situation. Money talks. You could be looking at nearly half a billion dollars in revenue.

"That said [Blizzard is] in a unique position. Very few people have any sway over them at all."

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter agreed that Blizzard is likely to maintain its untouchable status within the new merger, and is unlikely to submit to coercion.

"No forcing," said the analyst when asked if he thought Activision would push the issue. "If they disagree, I think Activision will defer to their judgment. However, I do expect the companies to engage in friendly dialogue on matters such as these, because all have the same goals."

Blizzard said consistently at the Worldwide Invitational in Paris at the weekend that it has no plans to develop anything for consoles at all.

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