Activision Blizzard revenue down, but far from catastrophic

The famous video game publisher published a turnover of 1.6 billion dollars in the second quarter, a severe drop in comparison with 2021. Despite everything, the company is pleased with the rare good points it displays.

fluctuat NEC mergitur. The Activision Blizzard boat is battered by the waves, but does not sink. However, it is already the third quarter in a row that the publisher has recorded a drop in profits. It is in a press release that the company reveals to have achieved 1.6 billion dollars in turnover, or 28% less than in 2021 over the same period (2.2 billion dollars). The company, despite this balance sheet in free fall, nevertheless tries to be reassuring because of the context of the economic crisis.

If Activision Blizzard looks gloomy, it’s because of the poor sales of its games on consoles and PC, halved during the year. So when, in 2021, revenues from console game sales were $740 million and PC game sales garnered $628 million, today they only represent, respectively, 376 and 332 million dollars. dollars. The editor explains this stampede by an early abandonment of call of duty by the players. Yet, amidst the storm, Activision Blizzard sees the light.

A salto at the foot of the wall

The first consolation lies in the sales of mobile games. They increased by 5%, bringing related revenue to $831 million, or more than half of total revenue. The Californian company can in particular thank candy Crush, at work behind this significant growth. Bobby Kotick, the boss in the hot seat of Activision Blizzard, did not fail to welcome this in his press release: “Despite a tough economic environment, and with so many companies announcing hiring and layoff freezes, our development teams have grown 25% year over year.” It also recalls the acquisition of the Proletariat studio and Peltarion, a company specializing in artificial intelligence and automated machine learning.

Activision Blizzard, however, leaves an impression of sinking, with a crew welcoming to evacuate the water as quickly as possible. The takeover of the publisher by Microsoft, for an amount of 69 billion dollars, is long overdue. The biggest ever tech M&A deal is expected to close by June 2023.