NEW RELEASES: The major game release this week is Take-Two's (TTWO) "Red Dead Redemption 2," which rolls out October 26 on PlayStation 4 (SNE) and Xbox One (MSFT). Also out this week is Ubisoft's (UBSFY) dance simulator "Just Dance 2019," which launches in North America today for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch (NTDOY), Wii U, and Wii.

MORGAN STANLEY CONSOLE NOTE: In a research note to investors two days ago, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said he sees changes coming to the global video game console market as the business model transitions toward subscription pricing and cloud delivery. Nowak said that the transition will lead to 2% CAGR console gaming revenue growth from 2017-2025, with gross profit growth accelerating to 6%. The analyst said he believes that game publishers such as Activision (ATVI), Electronic Arts (EA), and Take-Two will likely need to partner and bundle content to drive material consumer adoption, though he sees them being in a "win-win" position, because even if the console makers or other aggregators drive the cloud transition, the leading publishers can still benefit from expansion in the player base.

PIPER TEEN SURVEY: Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson said in a note earlier this week that his firm's 36th semi-annual survey of 8,600 teenagers shows that video game console ownership was up, with 83% claiming to own a current generation console or expecting to purchase one. Olson noted that spending on video games also increased, from 13% of male teen budgets in spring 2018 to 14% currently. The analyst also pointed out that a growing number of teens watch others play games via YouTube (GOOG) and Twitch (AMZN), while the number of teens who play mobile games fell according to the spring survey.

'BLACK OPS 4' OPENING WEEKEND: Last week, Activision Blizzard said that its new shooter "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" sold over $500M in sell-through globally in its first three days of release as the total number of players climbed from last year. The game set a new "Call of Duty" franchise record through its first three days of release for most combined players, average hours per player and total number of hours played, on current generation consoles. Following its launch day earlier this month, "Black Ops 4" already established a new day one record on PlayStation for digital full game sales on PlayStation Store, globally and also became the best-selling Activision Xbox One digital game on day one, globally.