Revenue and profits are thus down sharply from the historic level of 2021. Activision Blizzard generated 7 billion euros last year (8.2 billion euros in 2021) while its operating profit record of 3 billion euros in 2021 has simply melted by half (1.5 billion euros in 2022). With such figures, we cannot say that the end of abundance is looming for Bobby Kotick, but it is clear that the end of the confinement effect and the macroeconomic conditions of the moment are indeed being felt, because Activision Blizzard released some big cartridges in late 2022. Starting with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which had the biggest launch in franchise history.
A busy end of the year
The impact of this busy end of the year is also obvious on the results of the last quarter of 2022, a period during which the group recorded a turnover of 3.3 billion euros against 2.3 billion euros. in the last quarter of 2021. No surprise here: Modern Warfare 2 sold much, much better than Vanguard (and than any other Kalof, anyway). But this quarter also sounded the alarm clock of Blizzard with Overwatch 2, Diablo Immortal, as well as the extension World of Warcraft Dragonflight, even if the sales of these are down compared to the launch of the previous extensions, admits Activision Blizzard. And with the place given to free-to-play (let’s not forget Warzone 2.0), it is probably no coincidence that in-game purchases in the last quarter of 2022 increased sharply to reach 1.7 billion euros , compared to 1.1 billion euros the previous year. Especially since at King, the Candy Crush franchise is also credited with a record performance in the last quarter.
As often at Activision Blizzard, the beginning of the year promises to be quite calm, but a double challenge is looming for the month of June. The long-awaited launch of Diablo 4, of course, but above all the deadline to obtain the green light for the proposed acquisition by Microsoft, the announcement of which is now over a year old. Activision Blizzard takes the opportunity to point out that its development workforce has increased by 25% in 2022, a way of saying that the company remains attractive, including for women and ethnic minorities whose proportion has increased, despite numerous cases disastrous internals for its image.
- Also Read | Blizzard and NetEase Games are ending their partnership
Also to know →
- By the end of 2022, the entire Activision Blizzard King group claims 389 million active users.
- The Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo franchises each generated over $100 million in 2022.
- Downside at Blizzard, the end of the partnership with NetEase Games, which has been distributing all its major franchises in China for many years. The group is still looking for alternative solutions to find the keys to this market.