Yesterday (4.2.21) Activision Blizzard presented its financial report for the 4th quarter of 2020. In addition to the million-fold sales of the various divisions and games, it is especially interesting for players just before BlizzConline 2021, what Activision Blizzard plans to do with its current games and what innovations, remakes, etc. are planned. Below are the highlights of the earning call.

Table of Contents1Interesting statements from CEO Bobby Kotick2Activision MAUs in Q3 2020 from 111 million to 128 million3Blizzard Entertainment: MAUs drop4King - 9 million less MAUs

Activision Blizzard: Q4 2020 Earnings Call - WoW Mobile, D2 Remaster & More (2) Source: Blizzard

  • Revenue up 25% this year, operations up 70% and stock value up 25%.400 million monthly active users (MAUs). The goal is to reach 1 billion people with Call of Duty and the expansion of mobile.Three franchises generated $1 billion in profit in 2020 and they expect two more franchises to generate similar results in the next few years.

Interesting statements from CEO Bobby Kotick

  • Diablo Immortal is coming out this year.Content from WoW will be playable on other platforms (not necessarily WoW itself)At least one remaster is coming out this year (possibly Diablo 2)Call of Duty's success (more than three times as many players) is due to the principle of free to play combined with premium content, so they are now looking to apply that principle to other games.

Activision MAUs in Q3 2020 up from 111 million to 128 million

Activision Blizzard: Earnings Call Q4 2020 - WoW Mobile, D2 Remaster & More (1) Source.

  • Call of Duty is by far the company's most successful game. 16% increase in revenue thanks to in-game purchases.Revenue from Call of Duty roughly doubled in 2020. Battle Pass is a big contributor.Mobile version of Call of Duty is also very successful: revenue from in-game purchases up by double-digit percentage.

Blizzard Entertainment: MAUs decline

  • 29 instead of 30 million MAUs in Q3 2020.Still good outlook looking at WoW Shadowlands, Overwatch 2, Diablo 4 and Diablo 2 Remeastered.MAUs for WoW continue to rise: six quarters in a row more MAUs each quarter. Continues biggest "engagement" in a decade.Shadowlands is more successful (according to player engagement trend) at this point in the expansion than other addons at this point.

King - 9 million less MAUs

  • MAUs down to ~240 million (from 249 million).Still the most successful year post-acquisition in 2016.In-game purchases up by double-digit percentage again in Q4.New Game