NEW RELEASES: This week's major release in Nintendo's (NTDOY) "Pokemon Sword and Shield," the latest in the decades-long "Pokemon" franchise. The games roll out exclusively for Nintendo Switch systems on November 15. Also out this week is Electronic Arts' (EA) "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," a "Star Wars" action-adventure game developed by "Apex Legends" maker Respawn. The game also comes out November 15 for PC, PlayStation 4 (SNE), and Xbox One (MSFT). 

ACTIVISION RESULTS: Last Thursday, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) reported better-than-expected earnings and net bookings for the third quarter, with the game maker recording 36M monthly active users for its Activision-developed products, 33M MAUs for its Blizzard products, and 247M MAUs for its King products. The company said it "exceeded" its Q3 outlook driven by better-than-expected performance for "Call of Duty" in-game content and "World of Warcraft," as well as "favorable" cost timing. Looking ahead, Activision Blizzard provided a conservative guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2019, though the company said on its quarterly earnings call that "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" is already off to an "exceptional" start following its release last month, while monetization for "Call of Duty Mobile" is already experiencing a "strong start."

TAKE-TWO RESULTS: Take-Two (TTWO) also released its quarterly results last week, reporting better-than-expected net bookings for the second quarter, with major contributors including "Borderlands 3," "NBA 2K20," "Grand Theft Auto Online," and "Red Dead Online." Looking ahead, the company provided a conservative guidance for Q3 but raised its net bookings view for fiscal 2020. Commenting on the results, Stephens analyst Jeff Cohen reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock, noting that overall he believes investors are likely "looking for clarity" around fiscal 2021's release slate before the stock can move back to year-to-date highs. Still, the analyst said that the company continues to execute well and therefore he remains "comfortable" owning the stock at current levels.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• The Washington Post's Gary Putka reported last week that in February 2017, Activision Blizzard insiders were selling shares a day after the company announced a buyback plan.
• The Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki said over the weekend that Tencent (TCEHY) is "looking to make more console games for U.S. consumers" by leveraging its partnership with Nintendo.
• 12 games will be available on Google (GOOG) Stadia on its November 19 launch date, including Ubisoft's (UBSFY) "Assassin's Creed Odyssey," Bungie's "Destiny 2," Take-Two's "Red Dead Redemption 2," and Square Enix's "Shadow of the Tomb Raider."
• According to Kotaku, the PC launch of "Red Dead Redemption 2" has included a number of technical issues, with players complaining about the game's performance even on the most high-end machines.
• Nintendo said last week that the Nintendo Switch family of consoles has exceeded 10M units sold in Japan as of November 3.

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.