Activision Confident in Call of Duty: WWII and Destiny 2 Pre-Orders
Earlier today Activision released its financial results for the first quarter of the calendar year and the numbers! On top of the finances, Bobby Kotick, CEO, boasted about the fantastic reception on social media about the reveals of both Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII!
As we found out during the conference today, Activision is doing well, and is in the black, making 1,736 million in GAAP net revenues for the year of 2017! Mr. Kotick had this to say, “This quarter we delivered record revenues, earnings per share and cash flow, and over‐performed guidance. Among the drivers of our results was Overwatch, which now has over 30 million players globally. The Overwatch League is gaining momentum and weʹre excited to offer our community of players the best professional league experience. Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII are also coming later this year, and both reveals have been very well received by fans.ʺ
While the announcement mentioned a bunch of different areas, the main focus was about how well Overwatch was doing, with over 30 million global players, while “very strong starts” were highlighted for the pre-orders of Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII! Read on to see what Activision has to say about the situation of their finances, how well their games are doing, and how well the recently revealed Call of Duty: WWII and Destiny 2 are doing already!
Audience Reach
- Activision Blizzard had 431 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in the quarter.
- Activision had 48 million MAUs in the first quarter, down year‐over‐year primarily due to expected softness from last year’s Infinite Warfare release. Activision expects to release Call of Duty: WWII on November 3, 2017.
- Last week’s reveal was the most watched livestream in Call of Duty history, and the reveal trailer became the fastest video to reach 10 million views in Call of Duty history. Though early, initial pre‐orders for Call of Duty: WWII are off to a very strong start.
- Activision and its partners at Bungie expect to release Destiny 2 on September 8, 2017 and welcome PC players into the Destiny universe for the first time. Response to the Destiny 2 reveal was very encouraging, and pre‐orders are off to a very strong start.
- King had 342 million MAUs for the quarter, down year‐over‐year, but with better per user engagement and investment.
- King had two of the top 10 highest‐grossing titles in the U.S. mobile app stores for the fourteenth quarter in a row.
Deep Engagement
- Blizzard had record first‐quarter time spent, up a double‐digit percentage year‐over‐year.
- In late January, Overwatch had its fourth seasonal event, Year of the Rooster, to celebrate the lunar new year. The event drove engagement records for the game. Blizzard launched a fifth seasonal event in April, Uprising, including a player‐versus‐environment game mode which drew record time spent.
- King’s time spent per DAUB is now a record 35 minutes a day, up quarter‐over‐quarter and year over‐year. King’s DAUB to MAU ratio is at its highest point since 2013, and DAUsB were steady quarter‐over‐quarter.
Player Investment
- Blizzard’s revenues from in‐game content grew more than 25% year‐over‐year, driven by revenues from World of Warcraft in‐game content and continued strength of Overwatch customization items.
- Activision expects to release a new content offering for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 fans, Zombies Chronicles, on May 16, 2017. The remastered collection of the franchise’s most beloved Zombies content will be available first on PlayStation 4.
- King’s first‐quarter gross bookings per paying user grew for the 7th quarter in a row to a new record.
- The Candy Crush™ franchise showed continued stability with mobile bookings up quarter‐over‐quarter. Also, King has entered into a promising publishing partnership with PlayStudios to enter the social casino genre.
For the full details, you can check them out here. Keep it locked for updates as they become available!