Activision is on easy street right now, and announced that Call of Duty has earned more than $3 billion in the last twelve months (to the surprise of a very small number of people).
It was only November when it stated that more than $1.2 billion had been accrued through microtransactions across all of its properties in the third quarter of 2020. "Our teams continue to execute our growth plans with excellence during incredibly challenging circumstances," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in the results. "We are on a path to deliver sustained long-term growth across our fully-owned franchises. With confidence in our ability to continue to execute, we are raising our outlook for the year and remain enthusiastic for our growth prospects next year."
If things continue as they are, then Activision will be grinning like a Cheshire cat as it rings in the new year. Expectedly, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call Of Duty: Warzone were the golden geese of the flock, boasting a ten-fold increase in monthly players for both games, and a quadruple increase on microtransaction profits across PC and console compared to 2019. Part of this is due to the fact that Warzone was released this year, and its stratospheric success has no year-on-year statistics to contrast with. Still. I don't imagine its players will be hopping over to a different battle royale in the future, especially with the introduction of a "shared ecosystem business model."
The enormous $3 billion figure is the result of the net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically in the last twelve months, which comprises license fees, merchandise and publisher incentives. It continued to explain in its press release that the integration of both Black Ops Cold War's and Warzone's battle passes in mid-December means that players will progress in either game regardless of the one they choose to play. Tidy. Last yet by no means least, Activision is pleased to share that net bookings have risen by more than 80%, and units sold through have increased by more than 40% year-on-year.
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A fortnight ago, it affirmed that further redundancies would be occurring across its offices, in spite of these profits and gains. "We've been exploring how we might best integrate our capabilities across the business and be efficient as we evolve to meet growth opportunities and stay competitive in Asia Pacific," it told MCV/Develop. "To that end, we have begun conversations with employees regarding a plan to centralize some roles across the region in our Sydney office. Decisions of this nature are never easy and supporting our employees through this process is our number one priority."
Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: News, Call of Duty