Activision Blizzard have announced record breaking quarterly net bookings for Q4 of 2022 in their financial results press release, with Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo’s growth being major factors. There will not be an earnings call while the Microsoft acquisition is pending, but the report starts with a quote from CEO Bobby Kotick:
We ended 2022 with record quarterly net bookings as we delivered on
our mission to bring epic joy to players. I’m grateful to our talented and hardworking teams for their many successes
entertaining our hundreds of millions of players around the world. We look forward to a historic year, as we work toward
merging with Microsoft. This merger will enable us to better serve our players, create greater opportunities for our
employees, and allow us to succeed in an increasingly competitive global gaming industry.
Blizzard had the strongest quarterly net bookings of all time, sitting at 45 million monthly active users, up from 31 million in Q3, with Warcraft leading the way, despite Dragonflight early sales not having reached those set by Shadowlands, but community feedback has been positive and subscriber retention (in the West) is higher than in recent expansions. The report also mentioned the growth of Activision Blizzard development teams by 25% year-over-year.
Blizzard (Source)
• Blizzard segment revenue and operating income grew approximately 90% year–over–year in the fourth quarter, as
our teams executed against a substantial pipeline to deliver well–received content across key intellectual
properties. Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo grew strongly year–over–year and each delivered over $100M in net
bookings.
• In the Warcraft franchise, World of Warcraft delivered significant year–over–year growth in reach, engagement
and net bookings in the fourth quarter following the September release of Wrath of the Lich King® Classic and
the November launch of DragonflightTM. While early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior
expansion, community feedback on the title has been positive. Blizzard has announced plans to deliver substantially more follow–on content for the expansion than in the past, and post–launch subscriber retention in
the West is higher than recent expansions. Elsewhere in the Warcraft franchise, mobile title Warcraft: Arclight
RumbleTM continues to progress well through regional testing.
• The October launch of Overwatch 2 with a free–to–play model delivered the highest quarterly figures for player
numbers and hours played in Overwatch history. Player investment is also off to a strong start, with fourth quarter
in–game net bookings at the highest level to date for Overwatch. The team is working on an ambitious slate of
regular seasonal updates, including PVE content, to engage and expand the community, as well as other ways for
new and existing players to experience the Overwatch universe longer–term.
• Diablo ImmortalTM on mobile and PC also contributed to Blizzard’s fourth quarter year–over–year growth.
Engagement and player investment trends for the title were stable at the end of the fourth quarter and into the
new year. Diablo IV, the next installment in the genre–defining series, is planned for release on PC and console
on June 6, 2023. This ambitious title will serve as the launch for a compelling live service, with regular seasons
and story–driven expansions planned for years to come.
• Licensing agreements with NetEase that covered the publication of several titles in China expired in January
2023. Nonetheless, we still expect very strong year–over–year financial growth globally for Blizzard in 2023, driven
by both the launch of Diablo IV and live operations. Blizzard remains focused on finding alternative ways to serve
the community in China.
You can read the full press release here.
