Activision Blizzard Q4 2022 Earnings Results

Activision Blizzard Q4 2022 Earnings Results
Activision Blizzard announced their Q4 2022 results this afternoon. We now know why there was no article similar to previous expansions about the expansion becoming the fastest selling PC game of all time.

World of Warcraft
  • Early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior expansion, but community feedback on the title has been positive
  • 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 Dragonflight
  • Post-launch subscriber retention in the West is higher than recent expansions
  • Warcraft: Arclight Rumble continues to progress well through regional testing

Overwatch 2
  • 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

Diablo
  • Diablo Immortal 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

Microsoft
  • Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are continuing to engage with regulators and are working toward closing the transaction in Microsoft’s fiscal year ending June 30 2023

Blizzard
  • Blizzard reported its highest quarterly net bookings to date, driven by strong growth for Warcraft and the reinvigoration of Overwatch and Diablo
  • The first quarter will see significant development and marketing investment in live operations and future releases, including the June launch of Diablo IV
  • 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
  • Blizzard had 45 million Monthly Active Users, up from 31 million last quarter
  • Game development teams grew over 25% year-over-year in 2022
  • Activision Blizzard increased representation for those who identify as women or non-binary to 26% globally, as of the end of November, versus 24% a year earlier
  • Representation for underrepresented ethnic groups increased to 38% from 36% in the US over the same period
  • Blizzard remains focused on finding alternative ways to serve the community in China
This article was originally published in forum thread: Activision Blizzard Q4 2022 Earnings Results started by chaud View original post
Published on 2023-02-06 09:18 PM
231 Comments
Comments 227 Comments
  1. korijenkins's Avatar
    The slow bleeding out of Blizzard continues. Sad!

    But hey, they hired women so they can't be sexist anymore with sexist bigoted managers, right?
  1. heltvild's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Agall View Post
    "Early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior expansion, but community feedback on the title has been positive"

    What happens when your CS and QA is so poor that long time players start quitting.
    Post-launch subscriber retention in the West is higher than recent expansions
    sales at the start was bad because of horrible shadowlands, but feedback is positive and the retention rate is better than previous expansions
  1. Cynical Asshole's Avatar
    "Post-launch subscriber retention in the West is higher than recent expansions"

    Maybe because there is jackshit else to play until at least the 2nd half of 2023.
  1. Osmeric's Avatar
    Or, when you drive so many people away so violently that they can't be asked to come back.
  1. Kralljin's Avatar
    Oh no, the thing that reasonable people expected is in fact true.
  1. HansOlo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by korijenkins View Post
    The slow bleeding out of Blizzard continues. Sad!

    But hey, they hired women so they can't be sexist anymore with sexist bigoted managers, right?
    A slow bleeding beast, who ate all the WoW killers.

    Is the beginning of the end? Is the prophecy true after 1/4 of a lifetime?

    Many questions, not enough speculation.
  1. Nerph-'s Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kralljin View Post
    Oh no, the thing that reasonable people expected is in fact true.
    Literally this. The first thing I thought when someone made that thread asking what no numbers from Blizzard means, was that it just didn't break SL's record. But tinfoil hat peeps need to make a mountain out of a molehill obviously.
  1. HansOlo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kralljin View Post
    Oh no, the thing that reasonable people expected is in fact true.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nerph- View Post
    Literally this. The first thing I thought when someone made that thread asking what no numbers from Blizzard means, was that it just didn't break SL's record. But tinfoil hat peeps need to make a mountain out of a molehill obviously.
    People are not reasonable, if the obvious is a fact.

    Question is why does it matter?
  1. Kralljin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by HansOlo View Post
    Question is why does it matter?
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...d-means/page56

    Check out the the last ~10 pages of this thread.
  1. bmjclark's Avatar
    Not really surprising that it didn't surpass shadowlands. Not every expansion is going to be able to set a record and not every expansion needs to for there to be a healthy playerbase. Retention is higher which is better for the game than shattering records and then seeing massive drop offs anyways.
  1. Osmeric's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by bmjclark View Post
    Not every expansion is going to be able to set a record
    Going forward, perhaps not any.
  1. HansOlo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kralljin View Post
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...d-means/page56

    Check out the the last ~10 pages of this thread.
    I don't get it. Do explain.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Osmeric View Post
    Going forward, perhaps not any.
    And why are you so pessimistic?
  1. Zyky's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by chaud View Post
    Early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior expansion
    I AM SHOCKED

    /s
  1. Huntermyth's Avatar
    '' Activision Blizzard increased representation for those who identify as women or non-binary to 26% globally, as of the end of November, versus 24% a year earlier ''

    why is this relevant in any way ? why would i care what gender is the game developer / producer ? can anyone enlighten a foreigner ?
  1. Kralljin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by HansOlo View Post
    I don't get it. Do explain.
    People have been jumping through hoops in this thread to explain that Blizzard not posting any numbers doesn't mean anything, that all data from 3rd party sites indicating that DF didn't have as massive spike, etc.. is not reflective of its sales numbers.

    In other words, people stood on train tracks, heard a rumbling and went "there's no train coming.".
    Quote Originally Posted by Huntermyth View Post
    '
    why is this relevant in any way ? why would i care what gender is the game developer / producer ? can anyone enlighten a foreigner ?
    They got nothing else good to show for and that may appease some folk who care about these issues.
  1. Reive's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kralljin View Post
    People have been jumping through hoops in this thread to explain that Blizzard not posting any numbers doesn't mean anything, that all data from 3rd party sites indicating that DF didn't have as massive spike, etc.. is not reflective of its sales numbers.

    In other words, people stood on train tracks, heard a rumbling and went "there's no train coming.".
    No reasonable person expected df to sell better than shadowlands. But that doesn't mean the game is dead like you doomers like to think
  1. crusadernero's Avatar
    game is dying reeeeeeeeeeeeee
  1. Mendzia's Avatar
    Every quarter it keeps to amaze me how they are able to prove literally anything using correct words.
  1. McNeil's Avatar
    I don't think anyone was doubting that DF sold way less than previous expansions. Still surprised that they don't show any sales numbers, they even showed them for MoP which was considerably lower compared to Cata. Having a stronger retention kinda goes hand-in-hand considering that a lot of people who still play would have done so regardless and aren't as quick to quit. I will say that DF is a much better expansion than SL which drove away so many people. There was not a whole lot of hype or advertisement for DF either to bring in more of a new crowd to check the game out.
  1. salate's Avatar
    Early Dragonflight sales have not reached

    Could it be because China is not involved anymore?
    Or Blizzard China wasn't a part of earning calls?
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