Activision Blizzard: Mobile Games More Profitable Than PC and Console Combined in Q2 2022
The Santa Monica, California-based video game company Activision Blizzard recently released its Q2 report. It showed that mobile games netted the company more profits than PC and console games combined. The micro-transaction offerings paired with a low cost of entry are a recipe for remarkably high profit margins for the makers of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush Saga.
According to Activision Blizzard’s official filings, mobile games generated $831 million in profit during Q2 2022, while its console titles generated $376 million and PC games earned $332 million. Speaking of Candy Crush Saga, it’s one of the most popular mobile games of all time and, as a direct result, is also a massive moneymaker for Activision Blizzard. That game alone generated $684 million.
The company’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, has confirmed that he has wanted to develop a more social version of Candy Crush Saga for years. “I have long wanted to release a new part of Guitar Hero and Candy Crush where players will play against each other,” he said.
Gamers Can’t Get Enough of Diablo
According to Gamerant’s Filip Galekovic, “It is, of course, also worth pointing out that the company’s next quarterly earnings report is bound to be even more impressive thanks to the new Diablo game. After all, Diablo Immortal made over $100 million in just a few weeks after its release, and that’s on mobile phones alone. The simple truth is that the company is still massively profitable and that this trend isn’t likely to wane anytime soon. This is underlined further by the conclusion of the report, where Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that he expects even better profit growth in the long term.”
When Activision Blizzard acquired King, a digital entertainment development and publishing company, early in 2016, it became the largest game network worldwide, with over 500 million users. After falling to 22 million monthly active users for the quarter ending in March 2022, Diablo Immortal, Blizzard’s free-to-play, massively multiplayer online action role-playing video game, helped boost the company back to 27 million for the quarter ending on June 30.
In addition to Diablo and Diablo Immortal, gamers love to play these Activision Blizzard games:
— Blur
— Candy Crush Saga
— Call of Duty
— Call of Duty: Warzone
— Call of Duty: Vanguard
— Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
— Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
— Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
— Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
— Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
— Call of Duty: WWII
— Call of Duty: Ghosts
— Call of Duty: Black Ops
— Call of Duty: Black Ops II
— Call of Duty: Black Ops III
— Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
— Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
— Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
— Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
— Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
— Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
— DJ Hero
— Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
— Guitar Hero
— Hearthstone
— Heroes of the Storm
— Overwatch
— Pitfall!
— Quake II
— StarCraft
— Singularity
— TimeShift
— Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
— Warcraft Arclight Rumble
— World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
— World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
— World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has always believed that “having free games on phones is going to probably be a big way to grow the audience,” and he was right. In February 2022, the global mobile games market generated approximately $6.6 billion from gamers spending in both the App Store and Google Play.
Expanding Opportunities in Gaming for Everyone
This summer, Activision Blizzard launched the Level Up U program as part of its initiative to increase opportunities in gaming and technology for historically marginalized communities.
“In addition to traditional classroom and project-based work, those in the program will also have access to our incredible leaders who will serve as guest speakers and mentors,” says Julie Hodges, the company’s chief people officer.
Level Up U is a three-month intensive program intended to better help people get jobs in gaming. The inaugural program is focused on educating and developing engineering talent.
