Activision Blizzard Q2 2020 Earnings Call
The Activision Blizzard earnings call is this afternoon. We've highlighted some of the written results below.


  • Activision had 125 million MAUs in the second quarter, up from 102 million in Q1 and still down from 128 million in Q4 2019.
  • Blizzard had 32 million MAUs in the second quarter. This is the same as Q1 and Q4 2019.
  • World of Warcraft reach and engagement once again increased sequentially, as shelter-at-home conditions further boosted the franchise’s strong trajectory.
  • The Shadowlands expansion saw an enthusiastic response from players in its public testing, with pre-sales accelerating even further ahead of its release in the fourth quarter.
  • World of Warcraft engagement is the highest in a decade at this point ahead of an expansion.
  • Building on the success of Battlegrounds and recent live operations, the Hearthstone pipeline includes expansions, new engagement features and a new game mode planned for the coming quarters.
  • Overwatch engagement grew year-over-year, including among returning players.
  • Diablo Immortal, developed for mobile in partnership with NetEase, is due to expand internal testing with a company playtest in the coming weeks.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Activision Blizzard Q2 2020 Earnings Call started by chaud View original post
Comments 139 Comments
  1. Velerios's Avatar
    I know many does not listened to the Q&A because it is quite boring, but one thing i heared there that makes me want to think:

    They said that they want to bring brand new experience (of crash bandicoot) to console in october. Does it mean that they knew more than us and it's now fix that the new consoles get released in october? Or that they simply bring out new games, but if they do, why would they do it shortly before a new generation of consoles get released?

    Personally i think that they might have been unintentionally splurred out the release date of the consoles (and i'm pretty sure that big gaming companies like atvi does know far more than us); because launching a new game on the last gen consoles seems a bit odd.+

    For everyone to hear: https://youtu.be/2YPhwvEwMDc?t=3246
  1. Milky063's Avatar
    Is mmo champion going to post anything about the "Bloomberg Report Reveals Blizzard Employees Are Underpaid"?
  1. Kallisto's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Queen of Hamsters View Post
    Ho Boy, I sure hope none of these people screeching about "supporting immoral companies" practicing capitalism are supporting other immoral companies...

    But they are.

    Attacking people for enjoying the game and being glad to see it's in fact not dying because Capitalism functions the way it does, is rather dull. Especially since one can assume that most people here contribute to profits for a number of immoral companies around the world.
    I wonder how many of these people are going to vote R in the next election as a means to "Get at the libs." forgetting that every time they vote for a guy with an R next to their name they are basically endorsing immorality when it comes to companies and capitalism.
  1. Rogalicus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Velerios View Post
    I know many does not listened to the Q&A because it is quite boring, but one thing i heared there that makes me want to think:

    They said that they want to bring brand new experience (of crash bandicoot) to console in october. Does it mean that they knew more than us and it's now fix that the new consoles get released in october? Or that they simply bring out new games, but if they do, why would they do it shortly before a new generation of consoles get released?

    Personally i think that they might have been unintentionally splurred out the release date of the consoles (and i'm pretty sure that big gaming companies like atvi does know far more than us); because launching a new game on the last gen consoles seems a bit odd.+

    For everyone to hear: https://youtu.be/2YPhwvEwMDc?t=3246
    Crash Bandicoot 4 is current gen game.
  1. Lurker1's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by korijenkins View Post
    If that's the case, why aren't the employees of the company being paid livable wages?

    You white knights disgust me, constant deflection without acknowledging or even accepting that your precious Blizzard is an immoral company that doesn't care about consumers or employees.
    Not my problem.
  1. Doffen's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    If I was being pedantic I would said it literally doesn't mean that and Legion was the most recent with an x.3 ending patch and Cata being the last time before that. Plus they separate players and engagement considering their previous earning call had:
    You are correct in what you are saying here, they divide it because it's not the same thing. It does not mean there are more WoW subs now compared to other x.3 patches.

    Sub/MAU, and engagement/player activity are two different metrics. It's interesting in how they shift with player activity and engagement now and then. I would guess with engagement they can also include Shadowlands sale into this.

    Blizzard would actually write "increased MAU" if that was the case. Why would blizzard not say that if that was the truth right. They do it when they can :P
  1. Cosmic Janitor's Avatar
    It was to be expected to some degree, pandemic and all. This has been pretty much the same trend of digital entertainment companies. Only exception is mixxer, rofl.
  1. Ielenia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by twothe View Post
    By rule:
    Whose rule? Yours?
  1. october breeze's Avatar
    So, Candy Crush has earned more than WoW??? LOL
  1. Frosteye's Avatar
    So basically blizzard is patting themselves on the back despite their numbers being inflated by covid? Okay
  1. Synros's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Queen of Hamsters View Post
    Ah yes, the good old "speaking out on this issue means you should also speak out on these other issues that I am currently aware of and emotionally invested in lest you a HYPOCRITE!"-reasoning.

    Jesus on a bike indeed.

    Let's start with them paying their workers liveable wages, then we can demand that they shoulder putting China in its place instead of literal governments doing so...
    You do realize you don't need to be a government to denounce a fucking genocide, right? Blizzard can improve their staff wages, AND also denounce this at the same time. The fact you think these 2 things are mutually exclusive, speaks volumes to your completely and utter ignorance to how the real world works. Making strawman excuses for Blizzard's overt hypocrisy and double standards regarding select social issues they willing insert themselves into, is such an incredibly stupid hill to die on...
  1. ClassicPeon's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS View Post
    Nobody fucking knows. Blizzard intentionally chooses these vague descriptors for the game's current state as it looks generically positive.
    These descriptions are not made for you.

    They are made for shareholders who can literally fucking see the gain they get, so empty words would be met with firings.

    Its honestly so dumb when people act like these things are written for them-
  1. Knaar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Milky063 View Post
    Is mmo champion going to post anything about the "Bloomberg Report Reveals Blizzard Employees Are Underpaid"?
    Nop because they usually dont post anything overly negative about Blizzard.


    About the report, i find it funny that the numbers are still lower compared to Q4 2019 knowing that half the world is stuck at home playing videogames... which mean people are playing other games, not blibli games.
    Never seen before quantity of people online yet they fail to attract people... Yep, that's funny.
  1. ClassicPeon's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by october breeze View Post
    So, Candy Crush has earned more than WoW??? LOL
    The mobile market has been bigger then the pc market for years. MUCH bigger. Does this suprise you?
  1. deenman's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Knaar View Post
    Nop because they usually dont post anything overly negative about Blizzard.


    About the report, i find it funny that the numbers are still lower compared to Q4 2019 knowing that half the world is stuck at home playing videogames... which mean people are playing other games, not blibli games.
    Never seen before quantity of people online yet they fail to attract people... Yep, that's funny.
    huh? 99.9% of whats posted on this site is raging blizzard hate boners
  1. kamuimac's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by october breeze View Post
    So, Candy Crush has earned more than WoW??? LOL
    why lol ? people love their microtrasactions
  1. MoanaLisa's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Frosteye View Post
    So basically blizzard is patting themselves on the back despite their numbers being inflated by covid? Okay
    That's been true ever since Activision/Blizzard acquired King in 2016. LOL...duh.
  1. Doffen's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MoanaLisa View Post
    That's been true ever since Activision/Blizzard acquired King in 2016. LOL...duh.
    Where would they be without Candy Crush!

    Sweet and Tasty
  1. Cavox's Avatar
    Imagine believing Activision-Blizzard at this point. How does one measure "engagement" anyway? They're not mentioning subs (gee, I wonder why), they're not mentioning people coming back to the game, they're not considering many of the returning players are coming back to Classic for the AQ event.
    I repeat: imagine believing Activision-Blizzard in 2020. LMAO.
  1. Knaar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by deenman View Post
    huh? 99.9% of whats posted on this site is raging blizzard hate boners
    My understanding was that he was asking if they were gonna talk about it on the front page, which they wont. Ofc in the forum, people are talking about it

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