The giant corporation Activision-Blizzard has released its quarterly figures. It is said that Destiny 2 has recovered in Q2 2018 – the player numbers have increased. Otherwise, there’s only acknowledging nodding for its own games. Apparently, everything is going great: Everything is fine with WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Call of Duty Black Ops 4.
Activision Blizzard with rock-solid quarter: On Thursday, Activision-Blizzard presented its figures for the second quarter of 2018. This is the period from April to June 2018.
There are practically no jumps or surprises. Everything is incredibly solid.
Fear of Fortnite and PUBG unfounded
Another strong quarter: Previously, some observers were worried that the rise of PUBG and Fortnite would bleed Activision-Blizzard. But that is not the case.
Activision Blizzard has practically the same strong numbers in Q2 2018 as a year ago:
- Players: There are 352 million MAUs, that is the “monthly active users.” Of these, 270 million are from King’s mobile games like “Candy Crush.” Blizzard contributes 37 million users
- Money: Revenue in 2018 is slightly higher than in 2017 in the same quarter. It has risen to 1.64 billion US dollars, from 1.63 in Q2 2017
Everything is fine with WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Call of Duty
Highlights: Since it was a quiet quarter, most highlights revolved around pre-orders for Q3 2018, when the holiday season starts:
- World of Warcraft is going well, with strong pre-order numbers for the expansion Battle for Azeroth
- They are satisfied with Overwatch and the events there – there will be two new teams for the league in Atlanta and Guangzhou and possibly more
- In Hearthstone, the next expansion “Dr Boom’s Secret Lab” is selling well in pre-sales
- The pre-sales of Call of Duty Black Ops 4 are also going well
What is Blizzard doing next? In the outlook for Blizzard, “Mobile Incubation” plays an important role again. Thus, it seems clear: The creative power at Blizzard is currently focused on developing new games for mobile.
Other key areas mentioned include esports with the Overwatch League and Battle.net.
Destiny 2 is apparently recovering
Interesting for us at Mein MMO is always how Destiny 2 is doing. There is praise from Activision-Blizzard:
- The expansion Warmind had a higher engagement than “House of Wolves” in Destiny 1, that was the second expansion there
- Furthermore, the player numbers of Destiny 2 have increased compared to Q1 2018
According to Activision, this shows that Bungie is making progress in giving fans what they expect. The expansion “Warmind” has shown how they will develop the community.
In September, Forsaken will start; here they already believe to see good results.
This doesn’t sound particularly euphoric, but serves as a signal: Things are heading in the right direction with Destiny 2.
