Activision Blizzard Finds Its Stock Dropping by Over 14% After Earnings Call to Investors
Blizzard has had a lot of drama around them lately. Between the first female Co-Head stepping down after three months, and as well as the Chief Legal Officer leaving in September, Blizzard could have used some good news to offer to its investors lately. Instead, it announced that the two highly anticipated sequels, Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, were delayed. There was no news of a release date for either game, which means that neither will be seen in at least 2022. Little wonder that Blizzard’s stock dropped.
Then again, as other sources have pointed out, Blizzard’s stock has been dropping- not by much but dropping nonetheless- since June of this year. No doubt this is tied to the various lawsuits that Blizzard has been facing lately, one of the most prominent being the State of California’s lawsuit against them for unfair practice labor charges. According to Communications Workers of America, the union that Blizzard employees are part of, Blizzard, instead of protecting the rights of their workers, has participated in union-busting and worker intimidation.
And yet, while Blizzard has not been great in the news, they have not been faced with financial hardships. In fact, Blizzard alleged that in their last quarter that they raked in 2.07 billion dollars in revenue, and that during the July to September month period, Blizzard made one billion alone in microtransactions. And, too, Call of Duty: Vanguard will be coming out soon. While the two big titles of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 are not going to be coming forward, Blizzard has been quick to promise that there will still be some great content coming up in the upcoming year.
Still, there’s no telling how things will turn out for the company long term. Between employees quitting or being fired, the lawsuit from California, and multiple franchise neglect, things do not look good for this gaming giant. We will have to see how well they do in the year, and months, to come.