Activision expects to "release fewer games based on license properties" in 2013.

Oh no! You mean we may not get another terrible James Bond game this year? Or another (quite good actually) Transformers game, or another (meh) Spider-Man game? Eurogamer didn't bother reviewing the, by all accounts pants, Family Guy game.

"Hmph."

It may mean that, but it may not; Activision didn't specify.

"In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate," read the pertinent part of the statement Activision sent to Kotaku.

It was issued in response to lay-offs at Activision. The publisher confirmed the number as "approximately 30", which is tiddlywinks when stood next to the company's 7000-plus global workforce.

Generally things are going well for the world's biggest video game publisher. Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are ever so slightly losing their grip, but they're still colossal money spinners. And then there's Skylanders.

And on the horizon there's one of the biggest - if not the biggest - video game projects ever undertaken: Bungie's Destiny. Oh and Blizzard's new MMO Titan.

Maybe Activision doesn't need to bother with licensed games in the way it used to. Or maybe Activision's waiting to see what happens with next-generation console development before it fires the license factory up once more.