Activision Blizzard Q1 2020 Earnings Call

Activision Blizzard Q1 2020 Earnings Call
Activision Blizzard had their earnings call today.


  • Activision had 102 million MAUs in the first quarter. This is down from 128 million MAU in Q4 2019.
  • Blizzard had 32 million MAUs in the first quarter. This is the same as Q4 2019.
  • After doubling in the second half of 2019, World of Warcraft’s active player community increased further in the first quarter, driven by both new and returning players, as the team continued to deliver more content between expansions than ever before.
  • Each of Blizzard’s key franchises experienced a month-on-month increase in MAUs in March as a result of shelter-at-home tailwinds.
  • Hearthstone engagement improved sequentially, driven by the new Battlegrounds game mode and strong execution in live operations.
  • Overwatch engagement increased meaningfully in March and the Overwatch League successfully moved to online play and remote production.
  • Shadowlands is still on schedule to release during Q4 this year.
  • World of Warcraft drove strong revenue growth and operating margin growth for Blizzard.
  • WoW Classic has been very strong in the east, WoW Retail was strong in the West.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
COVID-19 Response
At Activision Blizzard, our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees and their families. All of our offices moved to work-from-home environments by mid-March. We are covering all costs of testing and treatment for affected employees and their families, and we have increased access to tele-health resources and contracted private doctors and medical support in regions where our employees live and work. And we are continuing to find other ways to support our employees and their families as we navigate through this unprecedented situation, including services to help families balance work and home life.

The digital nature of our content means our creative talent can continue to work on our product pipeline from home. While the shift to remote working adds complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process, we are implementing mitigation measures to address these areas and, based on the work to date, we still expect to deliver a robust slate of content over the remainder of the year.

We have leveraged our game platforms to disseminate critical health and safety information while offering in-game events and rewards to promote social distancing. We have made donations to world class health organizations and medical centers in cities where our employees live and work, funding promising convalescent blood therapies and drug trials. And we have made an additional contribution to our own Call of Duty Endowment to continue placing veterans into high-quality jobs.

The increasingly digital, recurring and cash-generative nature of our operations remains one of our fundamental strengths. With a strong balance sheet, low capital intensity and a track record of disciplined capital allocation, we have substantial flexibility as we navigate through an uncertain environment.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Activision Blizzard Q1 2019 Earnings Call started by chaud View original post
Published on 2020-05-05 09:32 PM
154 Comments
Comments 153 Comments
  1. unbound's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by FelPlague View Post
    Activision, not blizzard, maybe you should actually read the post.
    Before you get too excited about Blizz's performance, you may want to look a bit more closely at actual numbers. Blizz is still at 32 MAUs...the same number they've been at for 5 quarters now (small surge to 33 MAUs in Q3).

    Stop buying into the PR spin about everything being puppy dogs and sunshine. The reality is that even with WoW Classic propping them up, they are not doing particularly well. During Legion, MAUs were between 36 and 46. BfA saw a steady drop from 37 down to 35 to 32 and has been sitting there ever since despite "new" properties being released last year including Classic and W3.

    Sure, they are posting good financial numbers, but if their MAUs aren't going to budge, they clearly aren't making financial gains by virtue of good products, but by virtue of cutting costs...which means they are spending less than ever in providing you, the customer, much of anything.

    Just take a look at the financials - https://investor.activision.com/stat...b-0ee1ab2d3439

    Scroll down about 1/2 way to where the actual financials are compared to the year prior.

    Net revenues are down about 2% (and only that much lower because subscriptions and licensing increased), but their net income is up 13% by cutting their costs. Product costs are down by about 12% (that's money they normally spend on creating new products for you). Product development (new stuff like SL) is down 4%. Sales and marketing are up (that's the PR group that keeps telling you how awesome everything is).

    Repeat after me. Blizz is doing better financially because they are spending less on you, the customer, not because they are spending more on you and getting more customers.
  1. FelPlague's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by unbound View Post
    Before you get too excited about Blizz's performance, you may want to look a bit more closely at actual numbers. Blizz is still at 32 MAUs...the same number they've been at for 5 quarters now (small surge to 33 MAUs in Q3).

    Stop buying into the PR spin about everything being puppy dogs and sunshine. The reality is that even with WoW Classic propping them up, they are not doing particularly well. During Legion, MAUs were between 36 and 46. BfA saw a steady drop from 37 down to 35 to 32 and has been sitting there ever since despite "new" properties being released last year including Classic and W3.

    Sure, they are posting good financial numbers, but if their MAUs aren't going to budge, they clearly aren't making financial gains by virtue of good products, but by virtue of cutting costs...which means they are spending less than ever in providing you, the customer, much of anything.

    Just take a look at the financials - https://investor.activision.com/stat...b-0ee1ab2d3439

    Scroll down about 1/2 way to where the actual financials are compared to the year prior.

    Net revenues are down about 2% (and only that much lower because subscriptions and licensing increased), but their net income is up 13% by cutting their costs. Product costs are down by about 12% (that's money they normally spend on creating new products for you). Product development (new stuff like SL) is down 4%. Sales and marketing are up (that's the PR group that keeps telling you how awesome everything is).

    Repeat after me. Blizz is doing better financially because they are spending less on you, the customer, not because they are spending more on you and getting more customers.
    who said i was excited? again you are taking shit out of context unbound
    dude said "blizz lost 30 mil MAU" and i pointed out "no, that was activision, blizzard lost none" and your response? "Before you get excited they didn't grow" yeah i fucking know, i didn't say they grew, i said they didn't lose any like he was saying they did.
  1. fwc577's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Volatilis View Post
    "your a retard"

    its "you're a retard". If you're gonna throw insults from 2008 spell them correctly.
    Ur a R3tard*

    Dis da interweb, learn 2 spell liek ur on da interwebz! Noob!!11!
  1. Kuja's Avatar
    What is a MAU?
  1. katosjoes's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kuja View Post
    What is a MAU?
    Monthly Active Users.
  1. Declaron's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kuja View Post
    What is a MAU?
    Monthly Active Users - In other words the number of different accounts that have logged in even if just for 1 second within that month.

    Other members on this forum however seem to behave as if it was Most Arbitary Unit to push their agenda.
  1. Liftinmammals's Avatar
    You act as if you being sick by a simple virus grants you the title of being a hero. No, sir.
  1. Queen of Hamsters's Avatar
    Classic "propping them up" = One of those lines that cause painful eyerolling on pure reflex.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Liftinmammals View Post
    You act as if you being sick by a simple virus grants you the title of being a hero. No, sir.
    I've seen exactly zero people lay claim to any hero titles upon surviving Corona.
    Ya'll be disconnected from reality. Location checks out.
  1. MoanaLisa's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MasterHamster View Post
    Which is unfortunate, because I think game design paradigms would change if they looked more closely instead of counting everyone as a WoW MAU.
    This seems to assume that Blizzard internally doesn't know who is playing which game. I can assure you that they do. Just because it isn't reported as part of their financials doesn't mean they don't know exactly who is playing one or the other or both. They certainly don't need to tell us any of that to assess what is and isn't working between the two versions of the game.
  1. Gray_Matter's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by FelPlague View Post
    1. Yeah 150 million... You know how little of the world that is. Here is how much of the world population that is. 1.9273633103860166
    Just about 2%
    That was just in the States. There were lock downs around the world. The US make up a fairly large portion of the WOW player base. If you don't think that requiring 150 million people stay at home is going to boost the numbers of online gaming then you are deluding yourself.
  1. Garretdejiko's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Liftinmammals View Post
    Covid-19 response? Lol. Gosh, the entire world is being suckered right now by these global elites pushing this shit causing a lockdown on the entire planet. Wake up people. This is all bullshit that has been blown of proportion to cause society to turn into a bunch of government wanking hermits. Get outside, live life, open your businesses, and start being free people. These corporations that are going with the flow of this are falling in an orderly line with this agenda that has been set in motion years ago. Head up, people. This ain’t shit.
    Wake up sheeple. No seriously, you can go out as much as you want. Don't encourage others to make stupid decisions.
  1. FelPlague's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gray_Matter View Post
    That was just in the States. There were lock downs around the world. The US make up a fairly large portion of the WOW player base. If you don't think that requiring 150 million people stay at home is going to boost the numbers of online gaming then you are deluding yourself.
    online gaming yes, but wow in particular no.
    especially since the quarantine had JUST started, and many did not take it seriously till april.
  1. Gray_Matter's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by FelPlague View Post
    online gaming yes, but wow in particular no.
    especially since the quarantine had JUST started, and many did not take it seriously till april.
    Online gaming includes WOW. Also, we had a stay at home order. People were taking it more seriously when it was first issued as opposed to now. You are just making assumptions now that fit your point of view. Blizzard even stated that it was the fact "Reach and engagement were particularly strong as regions introduced shelter-at-home measures through the quarter, with momentum further increasing in April". They literally said it in their earnings report. Are you saying that they are lying?
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