Activision Blizzard's second quarter results have put paid to pontifications by analysts such as Jess Lubert over at Brean Murray. Earlier this year Murray stated, "Even without Starcraft I think Activision should be able to get to their current guidance for the year. But without Starcraft getting an upside to that number might be challenging."

Well, Starcraft II's delay has been confirmed by Blizzard's president and CEO, Michael Morhaime, during a conference call, "Once we release Starcraft 2 next year, we will move immediately on to the first of two expansions", he stated.

The reason for the delay? "The new version of Battlenet is being integrated with Starcraft 2 more tightly than in any previous Blizzard game. Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battlenet for the launch of Starcraft 2".

The upshot? Net revenues were $1.038 billion - the 'current guidance' was a simple $1 billion.