Blockbuster U.S. leaves physical retail, 2800 jobs lost

300 stores and remaining distribution centres to close by January 2014

The Dish Network will close all remaining Blockbuster retail stores and distribution centres in the U.S., resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs.

Dish will call time on its Blockbuster retail business in January, 2014, with the DVD-by-mail service scheduled to close one month before. In total, around 2800 jobs will be lost in the process.

“This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment,” said Dish CEO Joseph P. Clayton. “Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings.”

Dish acquired Blockbuster for $320 million at auction after it filed for bankruptcy in September, 2010. Since then, the business has continued to struggle, trimming or selling assets both in the U.S. and abroad.

Blockbuster will continue to trade through its digital-only services, Blockbuster @Home and Blockbuster On Demand.

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Activision: Black Ops 2 generated $500 million in 24 hours

Yet publisher has not confirmed if latest title is a record for the Call of Duty franchise

Activision is claiming that it has delivered the biggest game launch of the year with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, estimating that the latest Treyarch game made $500 million in sales on day one.

Sales data was consolidated via sales monitor GFK Chart-Track along with “retail customer sell-through information” and “internal company estimates”.

Activision’s newest blockbuster could, if its estimates are accurate, be poised for a new entertainment record with Black Ops 2. However, the publisher has yet to confirm this.

Modern Warfare 3 grossed more than $775 million globally in its first five days of availability, exceeding the $650 million record set by the 2010 Black Ops across five days.

Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick claimed that life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded Star Wars.

He added: “With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row”.

Black Ops 2 launched across the west on November 13th with an estimated 16,000 midnight openings across retail.

“Call of Duty has become more than a product people buy, it’s a brand people buy into,” said publishing boss Eric Hirshberg.

 

Source: CVG