Activision Blizzard Reports Strong Q1 2020 Earnings

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With everyone staying indoors thanks to the Coronavirus quarantines, no one should be surprised that Activision Blizzard reported strong earnings in the first 3 months of the year. Revenue for the quarter which ended on March 31, 2020 came in at $1.79B, which beat the company's own projections by over $100M.

World of Warcraft, despite DOUBLING in monthly active s in the second half of 2019, showed continued growth in Q1 2020. The launch of Shadowlands later in the year should only further increase the game's playerbase.

Business Highlights for Q1 2020:

Activision

Activision had 102 million MAUs^D in the first quarter.
Call of Duty: Warzone launched on March 10, 2020 and has reached over 60 million players to date.
Life-to-date, Modern Warfare has sold through more units and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release.
In the first quarter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare^®unit sell-through was the highest for the franchise outside of a launch quarter. Following substantial year-over-year growth versus the prior title in January and February, unit sell-through accelerated in March, driven by upgrades from Warzone as well as rising demand amidst shelter-at-home conditions.
Also in the first quarter, Modern Warfare in-game net bookings^C more than doubled year-over-year versus Black Ops 4.
Call of Duty Mobile continued to build on last October’s breakout launch with new content, features and events aimed at optimizing engagement, retention and player investment. The game saw increased reach and engagement in March, driven by an increased cadence of compelling content and events as well as shelter-at-home tailwinds.
Originally planned in a local city-based homestand format, the inaugural season of the professional Call of Duty League^TM pivoted all matches to online play and remote production for the remainder of the regular season, to keep players and fans safe while still delivering esports content to a global audience.

Blizzard

Blizzard had 32 million MAUs^D in the first quarter.
After doubling in the second half of 2019, World of Warcraft’s active player community¹ increased further in the first quarter, driven by both new and returning players, as the team continued to deliver more content between expansions than ever before.
Each of Blizzard’s key franchises experienced a month-on-month increase in MAUs^D in March as a result of shelter-at-home tailwinds.
Hearthstone^® engagement improved sequentially, driven by the new Battlegrounds game mode launched in November, and strong execution in live operations.
Overwatch^®engagement increased meaningfully in March and the Overwatch League^TM successfully moved to online play and remote production during the quarter.

King

King had 273 million MAUs^D in the first quarter.
MAUs^D grew month-over-month in both January and February, and further accelerated in March as shelter-at-home conditions came into effect.
Candy Crush^TM franchise MAUs^D grew year-over-year in each month of the quarter, with double-digit growth in March. Within the franchise, the community played more game rounds than in any quarter since Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of King.
Candy Crush Saga^TM and the wider Candy Crush franchise were once again the top-grossing title and franchise in the U.S. mobile app stores.²
Advertising net bookings^Bgrew over 75% year-over-year, even against the backdrop of the sudden decline in demand across the digital advertising sector in March.