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Activision announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2022, relating to the period between April 1 and July 30.
Published on August 1, 2022 Giuseppe Nelva
Today Activision announced its financial results for the second quarter of the calendar year 2022 relating to the period between April 1 and July 30.
We hear that both revenue and operating income (profit) for both Activision and Blizzard are down year-over-year, as there is less engagement for the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft franchises.
This was partially offset by the contribution brought by Hearthstone’s improved performance and the launch of Diablo Immortal.
That being said, the results were higher than in Q1 on all fronts.
Image Source: Activision Blizzard
The press release comes in line with traditional remarks from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who spoke about the acquisition of developers Proletarian and Pelterian and mentioned that the company looks forward to closing the acquisition by Microsoft as soon as possible.
“Our acquisitions of Proletarian and Pelterian last quarter provided a further boost to our development resources, including our artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. Even in a challenging economic environment, many companies announced freezes and layoffs. Of course, our growth headcount increased 25% year-over-year by the end of the second quarter. Our talented teams plan to release exciting new Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch content later this year. Of course, we look forward to completing our pending $95 per share all-cash transaction with Microsoft as soon as possible.”
Incidentally, the company confirms that the acquisition is expected to be completed during Microsoft’s fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2023, but did not provide any further details on the timeline.
We also hear of further commitment to “becoming the most welcoming, inclusive company in the industry”.
“Activision Blizzard is committed to becoming the most welcoming, inclusive company in our industry, and continues to implement previously announced initiatives to strengthen our practices and policies. In the second quarter, we saw experienced DE&I positions hold key positions across the organization. The leaders added. In July, the company launched Level Up You, a 12-week program that prepares talented individuals from inside and outside the industry to become full-time game developers. Level Up You, the underrepresented It’s the first major program funded through a $250 million investment over 10 years announced last October to accelerate opportunities in gaming and technology for communities.
Then we read a list of highlights showing the performance of the publisher’s games and brands.
Activision has an upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which has been defined as “the most ambitious rollout yet in the franchise.”
Diablo IV has been confirmed for 2023, and we’re also proud of the performance of Diablo Immortal.
Activision
- A new era will begin for the fourth quarter call of duty Voting. anticipation is high for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IIIt is scheduled for release on October 28 on consoles and PC. 2019 sequel modern warMost successful call of duty The title to date will lead to the most ambitious rollout ever in the franchise. a brand new Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 experience, tightly integrated with premium games, will launch as an extension of modern war Universe later this year.
- Activision’s expanded studio also continues to make strong progress on an innovative mobile experience that will expand warzone For the largest and fastest growing platform. across call of duty The ecosystem, teams are well positioned to support these launches with substantial live operations, while continuing to develop new premium content planned for 2023 and beyond.
- Activision’s second-quarter segment revenue and operating income declined year-over-year, reflecting lower engagement call of duty franchise, but increased relative to the first quarter. call of duty Net bookings on console and PC grew sequentially in the second quarter, following improvements in gameplay and seasonal content Call of Duty: Vanguard And Call of Duty: Warzone Which was highly appreciated by the players. for net booking call of duty mobile were consistent with the first quarter.
blizzard
- start of june diablo immortala deep and authentic diablo The experience, designed for mobile platforms, marks the beginning of the rollout of substantial content across Blizzard’s flagship franchise. diablo immortal It received high player ratings on mobile app stores worldwide, and reached the top of the game download charts in over 100 countries and territories after its launch. More than half of the game’s player accounts to date are new to Blizzard. The game ranked among the top-10 grossing games in the US App Stores for the month of June.
- Diablo IVThe next generation installment in the genre-defining series, is planned to launch on PC and consoles in 2023. The title will support cross-play and cross-progression across all platforms, and is designed to be the foundation of an engaging live service. , providing an ongoing story and new content for many years to come.
- In warcraft franchise, Blizzard is planning to deliver an unprecedented level of WoW content in the coming months, including wrath of the lich king classic launching on 26 september World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the innovative next expansion for the mod game, is expected to be released later in the year. Blizzard is committed to increasing its development resources to meet and exceed the expectations of its community, and significantly strengthened this at the end of the second quarter. world of Warcraft team through the acquisition of Boston-based studio Proletarian.
- During the second quarter, Blizzard unveiled Warcraft: Arclight Rumble™, an action-packed mobile strategy game that gives both new and existing fans a completely different way to experience the Warcraft universe. Public testing of the game is underway in select areas.
- overwatch 2 It’s planned to launch in Early Access on October 4th on PC and consoles. With a free-to-play live service model designed to provide frequent and substantial seasonal updates, this launch heralds the next chapter for the acclaimed team-based action game.
- Blizzard’s second quarter segment revenue and operating income were down year-over-year, but higher than in the first quarter. world of Warcraft Net bookings declined compared to the year-ago quarter, including the launch of burning crusade classicto offset year-over-year growth for stove and contributions from the June launch diablo immortal,
King
- King’s segment revenue and operating income increased year-over-year, driven by candy CrushRaja’s biggest franchise. King’s in-game net bookings grew 6% year-over-year, reflecting strong execution in live operations and user acquisition.
- King continues to increase the frequency and depth of seasonal content and introduces more player-versus-player features within candy CrushPromote increased engagement and player investment. Time spent within Kandy again increased year-over-year, the number of franchise payers grew by double-digit percentages year-over-year, and candy Crush It was the highest-grossing game franchise in the US App Store1 for the 20th consecutive quarter.
- Despite intensifying macro headwinds during the quarter, King’s advertising business grew more than 20% year-over-year, as the team continued to carefully grow ad volume on the King network.
- In June, King acquired software company Pelterian to accelerate the use of AI and machine learning technology to provide even more engaging content to its community.
