Activision Blizzard Q1 2021 Investor Call

[Kellorion]

Early in the pandemic, Bobby shared his personal phone number with all Blizzard employees in case they needed anything

Like job security, you cocksucker?!

[Nerovar]

They changed their stats to be in line with their competition and so Activision / Blizzard would report out on a consistent platform for engagement and financials. That was, I'm sure largely driven by their acquisition of King (Candy Crush).

No one in the investment community gives one flying fuck about WoW's subscriptions. The stock is for the entire company, not just Blizzard, not just WoW.

That doesn't keep them from giving out vague statements about their subnumbers whenever they are at a high point like they did when Classic released.

[MoanaLisa]

That doesn't keep them from giving out vague statements about their subnumbers whenever they are at a high point like they did when Classic released.

They can say whatever they like. Subs are unlikely to ever return to ATVI's financial reporting. No one cares except for fan service and other MMO's don't release their sub numbers. Again, financial reporting is for all of Activision and was redesigned around industry metrics that are standard for all public companies in that space.

[dope_danny]

Doesn't Blizzard have some sort of streaming rights contract with Youtube or Twitch? I'm pretty sure as dead as the audience for it is they have something contractual that requires them to keep it alive for several more years.

Also I'm surprised they signed a deal with Bilibili, I only hear terrible things about that community. Plus it doesn't help they've currently got controversy from some chinese teams threatening to throw their games over a Korean player because they don't like him.

I guess but the last thing i heard about it was those moudly team jerseys or whatever they sold a couple of years ago. I assumed Blizzard did their usual "kill off mainstream interest by trying to once again capture the brood war lightning in a bottle then give up after two years" deal.

[hulkgor]

I guess games like Valorant are nothing to talk about since people have been buying it EA for a long while. When it finally launches, we should only judge it by day 1 only sales.

Some people.

What are you even on about? You're not even making sense.

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A lot of people probably buy into the pre-expansion hype and impulse buy it, only to play sporadically across the expansion.

Sure, that's fair, but same goes for every expansion, i guess?

[Kumorii]

Another investor call, another thread filled with denial.

[MoanaLisa]

A lot of people probably buy into the pre-expansion hype and impulse buy it, only to play sporadically across the expansion.

In a world with dozens and dozens of game titles to sort through, it's a completely appropriate personal strategy to buy an expansion, play though the quests, see the sights, sample the stuff you think is interesting and then drop out until the next expansion. Generally, WoW will give you fair value for the money in that respect, especially given the number of $60 dollar games that can be finished in just a very few hours.

All the evidence that we can see validates that this is exactly what happens. Blizzard has played to that by turning the expansions into more-or-less standalone content that don't rely on any previous stuff to enjoy.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

He didn't turn anything down,and he didn't "take" anything.

The shareholders forced him to do these things,as they were already quite upset with how overpaid he was

Where did you get that nonsense from?

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Like job security, you cocksucker?!

I mean the esports team lasted a year with no live events before finally getting laid off that’s some pretty good job security.

[DarkAmbient]

Blizzard down 5 million MAUs from the same time last year. Not the greatest endorsement of Shadowlands.

[Nerovar]

They can say whatever they like. Subs are unlikely to ever return to ATVI's financial reporting. No one cares except for fan service and other MMO's don't release their sub numbers. Again, financial reporting is for all of Activision and was redesigned around industry metrics that are standard for all public companies in that space.

You're right in saying that subscription numbers are generally of little interest to the investors (just like the fact that Bobby K gave his phone number to employees). I'm just saying that despite that they like to throw in occasional comments about subscription numbers whenever they are increasing by a significant amount.

[dwarven]

In a world with dozens and dozens of game titles to sort through, it's a completely appropriate personal strategy to buy an expansion, play though the quests, see the sights, sample the stuff you think is interesting and then drop out until the next expansion. Generally, WoW will give you fair value for the money in that respect, especially given the number of $60 dollar games that can be finished in just a very few hours.

All the evidence that we can see validates that this is exactly what happens. Blizzard has played to that by turning the expansions into more-or-less standalone content that don't rely on any previous stuff to enjoy.

Yes, I agree it's great value. My post probably came across as too negative sounding. I just want to see some brand new Warcraft games.

[Sentynel]

Blizzard down 5 million MAUs from the same time last year. Not the greatest endorsement of Shadowlands.

Yes because Shadowlands is Blizzard's only product that can lose players.

[DarkAmbient]

Yes because Shadowlands is Blizzard's only product that can lose players.

Another investor call, another thread filled with denial.

Always the same.

[ketsui]

How do you pronounce “ Bilibili ” the company that will be broadcasting it in China

[mr2t]

Pretty much every Blizzard IP is in the shitter

[huth]

Always the same.

You're certainly a good example with your directly contradicting their announcements.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Ah! Excellent, the every few months see who a shill is post!

[Kallisto]

"Early in the pandemic, Bobby shared his personal phone number with all Blizzard employees in case they needed anything"

There is no fucking way that actually happened. Just confirms what I already believed, that these "quarterly reports" is just the company spinning bad news as positively as possible and cherry picking numbers that make them look good.

Perfect example: 7% increased revenue with no mention of profit. The company is in shambles right now but they just want you to look at the 7% revenue increase as an indicator that everything is peachy!

IF it is in the report it is 100% factual. Any lie, no matter how small is basically an open invitation to be put into cuffs and dragged in front of a judge.

[anon5123]

Always the same.

"you are in denial" is not an argument.

[Erous]

"Intends to hire over 2000 developers, tripling the size of some franchises teams." - Doesn't specify full time or vendor contract. I'm assuming it's the latter.

"Blizzard has added hundreds of developers across their franchises over the past few years." - Adding hundreds of developers under 1 vendor is just 1 hire, not "hundreds."