Activision Blizzard Q1 2020 Earnings Call

[unbound]

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.

[FelPlague]

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.

[fwc577]

"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!

[Kuja]

What is a MAU?

[katosjoes]

What is a MAU?

Monthly Active Users.

[Declaron]

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.

[Liftinmammals]

You act as if you being sick by a simple virus grants you the title of being a hero. No, sir.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Classic "propping them up" = One of those lines that cause painful eyerolling on pure reflex.

- - - Updated - - -

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.

[MoanaLisa]

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.

[Gray_Matter]

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.

[Garretdejiko]

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.

[FelPlague]

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.

[Gray_Matter]

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?