Activision Blizzard posts record quarterly bookings on Blizzard's strong growth and Call of Duty blockbuster sales

Activision Blizzard has released a financial report for the fourth quarter ended December 31. Although the company’s profits have declined, its bookings have reached new heights thanks to the strong performance of its top-tier franchises.

Overwatch 2

Key takeaways

• Activision Blizzard’s operating segments reached $3.3 billion in net revenue. However, consolidated net revenues (excluding share-based compensation, restructuring, and other expenses) were $2.3 billion, up 7.9% year-over-year.
• Game sales reached $721 million, up 11.7% year-over-year. Revenues from in-game purchases and subscriptions grew 6.2% year-over-year to $1.61 billion.
• Mobile was the largest platform by revenue in the fourth quarter, accounting for 41% of the company’s consolidated net revenues. It is followed by PC (25%) and console (24%). Mobile and PC revenues grew 14% and 16% year-over-year respectively, while console revenues fell 3%.

• The company reported quarterly record net bookings of $3.57 billion, up 43% year-over-year. In-game net bookings, which include the net amount of microtransactions and downloadable content, grew 46% year-over-year to $1.82 billion.
• Activision Blizzard reported net income of $403 million, down 28.5% year-over-year.

The company’s results by segments

• Activision was the company’s largest operating segment by net revenue with $1.85 billion (up 60% year-over-year).

The growth is largely due to the succesful launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which showed the highest opening-quarter sales in franchise history. On top of that, CoD: Mobile‘s net bookings grew double-digits year-over-year.

• Blizzard ranked second with a net revenue of $794 million (up nearly 90% year-over-year).

In Q4, the Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo franchises reached over $100 million in net bookings each. Blizzard also cited the continued success of Diablo Immortal, adding that it has big plans for turning Diablo IV into a “compelling live service” game that will be supported for years to come.

• King reached $727 million in net revenue (up 6.2% year-over-year).

The Candy Crush franchise remained the main driver of King’s revenue growth, with net bookings for Candy Crush Saga growing 20% year-over.

• The total number of monthly active users (MAUs) in Activision Blizzard games was 389 million. This is 21 million more than in the previous quarter and 18 million more year-over-year.
• King had 233 million MAUs in the fourth quarter, followed by Activision (111 million) and Blizzard (45 million).