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Activision Digital Revenue Tops $1 Billion In Record Quarter
Activision continues to capitalize on its tentpole franchises, with its second quarter of the current fiscal year setting company records. Sales jumped more than 50 percent year-over-year to $1.57 billion.
Activision’s digital full-game and add-on revenue for the quarter was $1.14 billion, or 72.6 percent. This is up 101 percent year-over-year.
Part of the digital growth comes from the recent acquisition of King, maker of mobile powerhouse Candy Crush. The company has also seen growth in core game add-ons thanks to Hearthstone’s continued popularity, Heroes of the Storm characters and cosmetics, and Overwatch’s loot boxes.
Blizzard’s slate of games propelled it to its best revenue quarter ever. Operating income grew nearly three times that of the same quarter last year, with Blizzard citing both Overwatch and strong pre-sales of the next World of Warcraft expansion. Legion, which is due out this month, is tracking approximately the same as the previous add-on, Warlords of Draenor.
The rest of Activision Blizzard’s year includes all three Activision tentpole games: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Destiny: Rise of Iron, and Skylanders Imaginators. The company will be discussing its earnings on a conference call this afternoon.
Our Take
Activision’s acquisition of King was costly, but is already yielding huge results. On top of Overwatch’s overwhelming success and a big fall ahead, the company is in a great position through the rest of its fiscal year.
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