11-10-2019, 11:16 AM
CoD and WoW push Activision Blizzard to better-than-expected Q3
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cod-and-wow-push-activision-blizzard-to-better-than-expected-q3.jpg" width="1000" height="1000" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p>Revenue at Activision Blizzard is down year-over-year but higher than expected for the three month period ending September 30, 2019, something the company credits to better-than-expected performance for both <em>Call of Duty</em> and <em>World of Warcraft</em>.</p>
<p>Though it is worth noting that, given the quarter closed at the end of September, the recent launch of <em>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare</em> and any potential impact from last month’s Blizzard boycotts wouldn’t be reflected in this current period.</p>
<p>Activision Blizzard as a whole reported GAAP net revenues of $1.28 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2019, beating the $1.1 billion revenue expectation the company had set back in August. GAAP net revenue from digital sources alone hit $1.01 billion this quarter.</p>
<p>Net bookings for the quarter, which include products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically, came in at $1.21 billion for the quarter, down from $1.66 billion last year.</p>
<p>“Recent launches have enabled significant growth in the size of our audiences for our <em>Call of Duty </em>and <em>World of Warcraft </em>franchises,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a press release. “As we introduce mobile and free-to-play games based on our franchises we believe we can increase audience size, engagement and monetization across our wholly-owned franchises.”</p>
<p>Activision on its own saw 36 million monthly active users across its games this quarter, and a press release notes that <em>Call of Duty: Black Ops 4</em>, the now second most recent console release in the franchise, saw sharp growth in net bookings compared to its predecessor. Activision saw $209 million in revenue, down year-over-year due in part to the boost last year saw from the Q3 launch of Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion. Destiny 2 as a whole has since separated from Activision after developer Bungie retook publishing rights for the game earlier this year.</p>
<p>Over at Blizzard, World of <em>Warcraft Classic </em>has, since its August release, drove the largest quarterly increase in World of Warcraft subscriptions in the franchise’s 15 year lifetime.The segment alone brought in $294 million in revenue, down year-over-year compared to Q3 2018 which saw the launch of a World of Warcraft expansion. King, meanwhile, saw over 247 million monthly active users for the quarter, and continues to leverage its <em>Candy Crush</em> franchise on mobile. Revenue at King came in at $500 million for the quarter, roughly flat year-over-year.</p>
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https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2019/11/...pected-q3/
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cod-and-wow-push-activision-blizzard-to-better-than-expected-q3.jpg" width="1000" height="1000" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p>Revenue at Activision Blizzard is down year-over-year but higher than expected for the three month period ending September 30, 2019, something the company credits to better-than-expected performance for both <em>Call of Duty</em> and <em>World of Warcraft</em>.</p>
<p>Though it is worth noting that, given the quarter closed at the end of September, the recent launch of <em>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare</em> and any potential impact from last month’s Blizzard boycotts wouldn’t be reflected in this current period.</p>
<p>Activision Blizzard as a whole reported GAAP net revenues of $1.28 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2019, beating the $1.1 billion revenue expectation the company had set back in August. GAAP net revenue from digital sources alone hit $1.01 billion this quarter.</p>
<p>Net bookings for the quarter, which include products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically, came in at $1.21 billion for the quarter, down from $1.66 billion last year.</p>
<p>“Recent launches have enabled significant growth in the size of our audiences for our <em>Call of Duty </em>and <em>World of Warcraft </em>franchises,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a press release. “As we introduce mobile and free-to-play games based on our franchises we believe we can increase audience size, engagement and monetization across our wholly-owned franchises.”</p>
<p>Activision on its own saw 36 million monthly active users across its games this quarter, and a press release notes that <em>Call of Duty: Black Ops 4</em>, the now second most recent console release in the franchise, saw sharp growth in net bookings compared to its predecessor. Activision saw $209 million in revenue, down year-over-year due in part to the boost last year saw from the Q3 launch of Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion. Destiny 2 as a whole has since separated from Activision after developer Bungie retook publishing rights for the game earlier this year.</p>
<p>Over at Blizzard, World of <em>Warcraft Classic </em>has, since its August release, drove the largest quarterly increase in World of Warcraft subscriptions in the franchise’s 15 year lifetime.The segment alone brought in $294 million in revenue, down year-over-year compared to Q3 2018 which saw the launch of a World of Warcraft expansion. King, meanwhile, saw over 247 million monthly active users for the quarter, and continues to leverage its <em>Candy Crush</em> franchise on mobile. Revenue at King came in at $500 million for the quarter, roughly flat year-over-year.</p>
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https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2019/11/...pected-q3/