Activision Blizzard Made $1.2 Billion In Microtransactions In The Last 3 Months
After releasing their quarterly financial report, it was found that Activision Blizzard made over $1 billion in revenue through microtransactions, which amounted to just under two-thirds of their total income.
The makers over Call of Duty, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush (through their ownership of King) racked up $1.2 billion through in-game purchases, an increase 69% from the Q2 report. This time-lapse spans from July to September, where fans bought an increasing amount of skins, bundles, and other customisation features.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone were the pioneering titles in which Activision had been making their money. Over four times the amount of money was poured into the franchise in this quarter than in the same time frame as last year, which is testament to how they have revived Call of Duty. The seasonal events and recurring battle passes will have contributed massively to this too, with both Season 5 and Season 6 being launched in Q3 of the year.
Click to enlargeRemarkably, the revenue from microtransactions dwarfs the money made through game sales, and pre-orders. For Activision, Q3 is normally the time where they introduce the next Call of Duty instalment to the market, and 2020 was no different. Call of duty: Black Ops Cold War was made available for pre-ordering, and the Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered was just 2 months old in July. Game sales equated to just over half the amount that made through microtransactions, proving that Activision's real winner is their seasonal events and popular customisation features.
Going into Q4, Hearthstone, Call of Duty, and Overwatch all released a plethora of Halloween cosmetics, as well as Black Ops Cold War being released. One can only imagine their revenue in the upcoming months.
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