Activision hires Mattel vet to lead consumer products division

Activision Blizzard will launch a consumer products division with a veteran of Mattel and Disney at the helm, the video game publisher announced Wednesday.

Tim Kilpin will serve as CEO and president of the new division, says the company. Kilpin previously worked at Mattel, managing brands including Barbie and Hot Wheels. Prior to Mattel, Kilpin was the executive vice president for franchise management with Disney.

"It really comes down to what they're doing in terms of the power of their franchises, and how they're reaching their audiences today," said Kilpin of Activision Blizzard, which owns properties including Call of Duty, Skylanders and the increasingly popular action game Overwatch.

The introduction of a consumer products division is the latest step by Activision Blizzard to expand its revenue channels beyond video games. In 2015, Activision launched an eSports division with the former head of ESPN and NFL Network in charge, as well as a studio to create original TV and movie programming based on their franchises. The first of those, the TV series Skylanders Academy, launched on Netflix last year.

Also in 2015, Activision made its biggest acquisition ever in scooping up Candy Crush Saga makers King Digital for $5.9 billion.

Activision Blizzard will report fourth quarter earnings on February 9. Analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence project earnings of 74 cents a share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.