Since 2018, Activision Blizzard reached a new high with its earnings due to people staying inside. The publisher, responsible for franchises such as Call of Duty, reported their earnings to be 76 cents a share. This, of course, beats Wall Streets estimate of 38 cents a share and replaces their estimated $1.3 billion with $1.52 billion USD. Because of people staying inside to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the company reported a surge starting in April, raising its stock price by 4.6%.
The release of their newest in-game battle royale mode, Call of Duty Warzone, was just at the start of statewide stay at home order. During the first month of the game’s release, it had been downloaded more than 50 million times with a steady rise as more people start to self-isolate. At the same time as this release, major pillars in the company such as King’s Candy Crush Saga, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch are having a huge rise in players as well.
Blizzard reported having 32 million users in this quarter, doubling the number since 2019. Since The Overwatch League shifted to remote production during this quarter as well, Blizzard has seen. a $425 million (USD) in revenue and an operating income of $197 million (USD). King’s Candy Crush Saga had reported having 273 million active players for the first quarter which slowly rose as the pandemic hit. Advertising bookings grew 75%, and they found themselves at a revenue of $498 million (USD) while functioning at an income of $156 million (USD).
With this large of a jump, the newest title in the Call of Duty franchise seems to still have its intended release date between October and December of 2020. “Looking ahead, the next premium release for Call of Duty already looks great and remains on track for release later this year,” Daniel Alegre, the newly appointed President and COO, said during their first-quarter call on Tuesday.