Overwatch was first released just under a year ago in May 2016. The online multiplayer first-person shooter has since become another huge hit for developer Blizzard who are also responsible for other massive game franchises including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, StarCraft, and Diablo. Overwatch received critical acclaim upon release, particularly for its colorful cast of characters and fast-paced action.
Such is Overwatch’s success that the game has, in less than a year, become a billion-dollar franchise for Blizzard. The news was announced earlier today in Activsion’s earnings report (Activision merged with Vivendi Games, who owned Blizzard, in 2008). As Polygon reports, the billion dollar mark was reached thanks to sales of the game itself and users cashing out for microtransactions.
It was announced that the game hit 30 million registered players faster than any other game in Activision’s history and, though no exact figures were released, the game apparently saw a record number of monthly active users in the first quarter of the fiscal year.
As you can see from the above slide, the company has also stated that pre-orders for both Call of Duty: WW2 and Destiny 2 are “very strong”. It looks like things are going very well for Activision and Blizzard so far this year.
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