The main thing from the Activision Blizzard report: $1.9 billion in three months and 390 million active players

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
The third fiscal quarter of 2020 (July-September) was a success for Activision Blizzard.

The company noted growth in most indicators.

Key figures

• Activision Blizzard’s quarterly revenue increased by 52.4% year-on-year to $1.9 billion;
• In-game receipts (In-Game Net Bookings) amounted to $1.2 billion. This is $491 million more than it was in the same period of 2019;
• the publisher’s net profit has almost tripled in three months — $604 million against $204 million in the third quarter of last year;
• 90% of the revenue came from digital sales, which reached $1.7 billion.;
• The total MAU of Activision Blizzard games was 390 million people.

According to Activision Blizzard, it managed to achieve such results due to the growth of the audience, increased engagement and the fact that gamers began to invest more money in the publisher’s games. The company also calls the Call of Duty franchise “a major growth driver and a social ecosystem that captivates our players in an unprecedented way.” The report notes that this franchise, like World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, could bring in over $1 billion in net receipts (Net Bookings) in 2020.

Activision Metrics

• Activision‘s net revenue for the third quarter of 2020 increased by 207% compared to last year and reached $773 million;
• the monthly number of active players was 111 million;
• the greatest success was achieved by the titles of the Call of Duty series;
• premium Call of Duty: Modern Warfare showed the best sales for the first year in the history of the franchise (the publisher does not specify exact figures);
• Call of Duty Mobile has become the highest-grossing title in American stores and is preparing for release in China, where 50 million people have already registered for the game test;
• The release of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is scheduled for November 13, but there are “much more” players involved in testing the title than in last year’s shooter. According to the publisher’s forecasts, the most active and broad gaming community is waiting for Black Ops at the start.

Blizzard Metrics

• Blizzard‘s revenues in the period from July to September 2020 amounted to $411 million, an increase of 4% year-on-year;
• The company’s games MAU has reached the 30 million mark;
• World of Warcraft remains one of the main projects of the division. Pre—orders of his add—on, Shadowlands, turned out to be the highest in the history of the game;
• Overwatch has held the game’s MAU at 10 million people for the fourth year in a row. And the number of viewers of the October Grand Finals esports event has become the largest for the entire existence of the Overwatch League.

King Indicators

• in three months, King earned 7% more than in the third quarter of 2019 — $536 million;
• monthly games of the division gathered an active audience of 249 million;
• Candy Crush has once again become the highest-grossing franchise in the American market;
• King expects great success for the mobile version of the Crash Bandicoot game, which will appear on the mobile platform in the spring of 2021. Crash Bandicoot: On the Run has already collected 10 million pre-registrations.

Also on the topic:

• Activision Blizzard reports new records: $1.37 billion from microtransactions and 428 million active playersThe success of Warzone forced Activision Blizzard to reconsider the future of the Call of Duty franchise
• In the premiere year, players downloaded Call of Duty: Mobile more than 300 million times
• Is there any news?