Activision Blizzard Announces Financial Results as Overwatch 2 Has Passed an “Important Internal Milestone”

Today Activision announced its financial results for the second quarter of the calendar year 2021, related to the period between April 1 and June 30.

According to the press release, said results are defined as “strong” and contributing to a record first-half of the year in terms of both income and income.

You can see a summary below.

The press release also included the traditional comment by Activision Blizzard chief executive officer Bobby Kotick

“With respect to our financial performance, we are pleased that the company continued to deliver strong results in the second quarter, and we are raising our outlook for the year. We remain intensely focused on the well-being of our employees and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that our company has a welcoming, supportive and safe environment where all of our team members can thrive.”

We then read a list of highlights illustrating the performance of Activision’s games and financial situation. Interestingly, we learn that Overwatch 2 has passed an “important internal milestone in recent weeks.”

Activision

• Activision delivered another strong quarter, contributing to record first half segment revenue and segment operating income. Activision had 127 million MAUs in the second quarter.
• The Call of Duty ecosystem sustained reach, engagement, and player investment well above levels seen prior to the introduction of free-to-play experiences across console, PC, and mobile. Q2 franchise MAUs were consistent versus the year ago quarter, and over three times higher than Q2 2019. Hours played in the franchise in Q2 were higher than for the entirety of 2019.
• Conversion from Warzone again drove strong premium sales at multiples of the level typically seen in Q2 prior to 2020.
• Console and PC in-game net bookings were similar to that seen in Q1, and approximately four times the level of Q2 2019.
• For Call of Duty Mobile, net bookings grew double-digit percentages year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, driven by strong execution in seasonal content in the West and the recent launch of the game in China. Call of Duty Mobile is on track to exceed $1 billion in consumer spending for the year.

Blizzard

• Blizzard’s launch of Burning Crusade Classic in June marked the start of what is intended to be a very significant 18-month period for content releases. Blizzard had 26 million MAUs in the second quarter.
• World of Warcraft net bookings again grew a double-digit percentage year-over-year, driven by the launch of Burning Crusade Classic. Subscriber numbers and hours played were higher following the release, demonstrating the importance of Classic in enabling more ways for players to engage. World of Warcraft remains on track for much stronger engagement this year than is typical outside of a modern expansion year.
• The latest expansion of the Hearthstone franchise, Forged in the Barrens, delivered expansion-over-expansion net bookings growth for a second consecutive release following its March launch. With the latest expansion, United in Stormwind, launching today, and Mercenaries, a new mode in the popular role-playing genre planned for the coming months, we expect the financial performance of Hearthstone to strengthen in the second half of the year.
• The highly anticipated Diablo II: Resurrected will launch on PC and console on September 23. On mobile, Diablo Immortal continued to progress well through testing, receiving excellent feedback for its gameplay. The team is pursuing additional opportunities to make the title even more engaging for a wider audience, with the launch now slated for first half of 2022. Blizzard continues to make strong progress on Diablo4 and is allocating substantial resources to creating exciting in-game content to drive engagement over multiple years.
• Overwatch 2 development passed an important internal milestone in recent weeks. After a great response to the recent community update, the team is looking forward to revealing more of the game in the coming months as they approach the later stages of production.

King

• King segment revenue grew 15% year-over-year, with segment operating income growing even faster and both metrics reaching new records. King had 255 million MAUs in the second quarter.
• The business saw ongoing year-over-year growth in franchise payers and investment per payer, with Candy Crush once again the highest grossing game franchise in the United States app stores.
• Building on successful initiatives to broaden its payer base over the last two years, King has been accelerating the delivery of compelling seasonal content, and in Q2, reached a monthly cadence within Candy Crush Saga, its largest title. The team is planning an innovative slate of seasonal events and live operations for the second half of the year, including tie-ins with brands that value the association with our premium network, positioning the franchise for ongoing momentum in its in-game business.
• Advertising revenues grew sequentially and doubled year-over-year. King’s ongoing initiatives to enhance its ad platform, work with more demand partners and reach more categories of advertisers drove year-over-year growth in both volume and pricing, with broad-based strength across geographies.

The company has also increased its outlook for the full year, cautioning that this may be impacted if the adverse publicity from the State of California lawsuit continues for a prolonged period of time.

If you’d like to compare today’s results with historical data, you can check out the announcement for the previous quarter, which was published in May.