Activision Blizzard announced their financial results for the first quarter of 2017 (ended March 31, 2017) today, revealing that net revenues were up 19% year-over-year to a record $1.73 billion. Digital revenue during the quarter was $1.39 billion, up 50% year-over-year.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick highlighted Overwatch as a big driver for their success:
This quarter we delivered record revenues, earnings per share and cash flow, and over-performed guidance.
Among the drivers of our results was Overwatch, which now has over 30 million players globally. The Overwatch League is gaining momentum and we’re excited to offer our community of players the best professional league experience. Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII are also coming later this year, and both reveals have been very well received by fans.
Blizzard had its biggest Q1 online player community in history with 41 million Monthly Active Users (up 58%), and Overwatch is now the 8th billion-dollar franchise for Activision Blizzard. Activision, meanwhile, saw MAUs in Q1 fall to 48 million “primarily due to expected softness from last year’s Infinite Warfare release.”
As for Call of Duty: WWII and Destiny 2, pre-orders for both are “off to a very strong start.” WWII’s reveal was the most watched livestream in Call of Duty history and the reveal trailer became the fastest video in Call of Duty history to reach 10 million views.
Destiny 2 releases on September 8 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The gameplay reveal is scheduled for May 18, and a beta will take place this summer.
Call of Duty: WWII releases on November 3 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The multiplayer reveal is happening at E3 2017, and pre-ordering gets you access to the upcoming beta.
Expect more news to come from Activision Blizzard’s earnings call this afternoon.
[Source: Activision]
