- Activision Blizzard reported a $505M USD profit for the first quarter of 2019, which marks an increase of 13% compared to $447M in the same period of 2019.
- The company generated $1.79B in revenues for the quarter, of which $519M and $452M were contributed by Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment, respectively.
- The game Call of Duty: Warzone, which was launched on March 10, already surpassed 60M players to date.
Yesterday, video game holding company Activision Blizzard published its financial earnings for the first quarter of 2020. The company generated net revenues of $1.79B, which represents a decrease of 2% compared to $1.83B for the first quarter of 2019.
In total, the company recorded a net income of $505M or $0.65 earnings per share (EPS), up 13% compared to $447M in the same period of 2019. Activision Blizzard’s Chief Financial Officer Dennis Durkin analyzed that “our first-quarter revenue and earnings were well ahead of our prior outlook, primarily driven by our investment in creative and commercial initiatives for Call of Duty delivering better-than-expected results throughout the quarter. In addition, World of Warcraft continued to over-deliver, and other key franchises and catalog sales also exceeded our outlook benefiting from stronger demand toward the end of the quarter as consumers sheltered at home in many of our key regions.”
The video game holding company reported key performance indicators for its three business segments, Activision Publishing (console games), Blizzard Entertainment (PC games), and King (mobile games).
Activision had 102M monthly active users (MAUs) in the first quarter, mostly driven by in-game revenues from its Call of Duty series, strong game sales of premium Modern Warfare, and the addition of Call of Duty Mobile. The business generated roughly 29% of Activision Blizzard’s total revenues at $519M, up 64% year-over-year, and an operating profit of $184M at a 35% operating margin. Activision’s latest title, Call of Duty: Warzone, launched on March 10 and reached over 60M players to date.
Blizzard had MAUs of 32M for the period and generated revenues of $452M, increasing 31% year-over-year, reflecting strong growth for World of Warcraft and the release of Warcraft III: Reforged in the quarter. The segment’s operating income for Q1 was $197M at an operating margin of 44%, which increased significantly year-over-year primarily due to strong revenue growth.
King reported 273M MAUS and generated revenues of $498M for Activision Blizzard during the quarter. While the revenues were slightly lower year-over-year, the segment’s ads business grew over 75% year-over-year. King’s operating profit was $156M with an operating margin of 31%, lower than a year ago due to lower revenues and higher operating expenses as it made disciplined investments in expanding its player network.
Furthermore, Activision Blizzard reported that thanks to the digital nature of its content, the company was able to transition its whole operation to a work-from-home environment by mid-March in response to the ongoing global health crisis (COVID-19).
Also due to COVID-19 policies, the company pivoted the inaugural season of the professional Call of Duty League and the third season of its Overwatch League to online play and remote production for the remainder of the regular season, which were originally planned in a local city-based homestand format.
