Publisher Activision has reported a surprisingly strong performance for the last Xmas period, and raised expectations for the next fiscal year.

Thanks to big titles like Spider-Man 2, Call of Duty and Tony Hawk's Underground 2, the publisher's sales were up 34pc from the holiday period the year before, to $680 million worth. Thanks to this, profits took a 24pc leap and expectations for the entirety of the 2005 fiscal year were increased to a sizable $1.352 billion.

So great was their success that they made more money in the first three quarters of FY2005 (March-December 2004) than they did in the whole of the previous fiscal year.

Hopes are now high for the next fiscal year, with the publisher aiming for a dozen million-breaking titles, and about half of these hitting two million. It has two new handhelds to make money off, as well as the approaching next generation of home consoles.

"It was only two years ago that many observers wrote off Activision as a 'one hit wonder'," noted Banc of America Securities' Gary Cooper. "Since those dark days of the fall of 2002, Activision has built upon its foundation of Tony Hawk titles to create a diverse portfolio of licensed and owned intellectual properties."

Activision's continuing market growth continues then. Next stop; EA?