The financial report from Blizzard and Activision for Q2 2017 creates a positive vibe. Most games are doing well. However, some are not mentioned …
With the end of July, another quarter has been completed, prompting major companies like Activision and Blizzard to present a financial report. We took a look at the key figures from Blizzard’s statements and checked the state of the game developer.
Overwatch – A year after release more popular than ever
Shooters typically have a relatively short half-life, but Overwatch has improved over the past year. From April to June 2017, there was the highest number of active users of the game ever. This was largely due to the Anniversary event of Overwatch, which celebrated the first birthday of the hero shooter.
Especially the PvE mode during the “Uprising” event was very popular and achieved “records in playtime”.
World of Warcraft: Legion – Better than the last expansion
According to the financial report, World of Warcraft with the current expansion Legion is in a good position. The time spent in the game by users increased in the quarter compared to the previous year – this is not surprising, as there was a content drought around this time last year.
Furthermore, “Legion performs better than the previous expansion”. This is hardly surprising, as the air was relatively quickly out of Warlords of Draenor and players had no long-term motivation.
For some speculation, the exact phrasing “previous expansion” seems to cause concern. Because that would mean that Legion performs better than “Warlords of Draenor” but worse than Mists of Pandaria.
Hearthstone – Un’Goro sets new records
The world also looks rosy for Blizzard’s collectible card game, Hearthstone. After the release of Journey to Un’Goro, it also set a new record for monthly active users, surpassing all other expansions.
Arguments that “the game is dead because of RNG” seem to be debunked – Hearthstone thrives better than ever.
Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm – the great silence
However, there is no clear statement about other games. Diablo 3 is only mentioned in passing, in conjunction with Overwatch, WoW, and Hearthstone, that “new content during the quarter has led to strong player involvement”.
No word is said about Heroes of the Storm. This is surprising, since HotS celebrated its “2.0” update during this period and should have generated more attention due to a cross-promotion with Overwatch. The lack of mention of the game leaves much room for speculation.
StarCraft II is also not mentioned.
More revenue than in 2016
Blizzard’s revenue in the quarter amounts to 1.63 billion dollars, an increase from 1.57 billion dollars in the same period last year. The majority of this is earned by Blizzard from digital sales, which account for 1.31 billion dollars or nearly 80%.
In summary, it can be said: Blizzard had a really good spring and the games are on a good track.
