Activision Blizzard posts record Q1 results

First Quarter Financial Results show steady revenue increase

Posted on May 10, 2011 - 10:06am EST

Activision Blizzard has announced its better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2011.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2011, Activision Blizzard's GAAP net revenues increased to $1.4 billion, as compared with $1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2010. For the first quarter, GAAP net revenues from digital channels increased 30% year over year, accounting for 30% of the company's total net revenues.

Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, stated, "With over $1.4 billion of GAAP net revenues our record first-quarter performance was driven by digital sales and the continued strength of Call of Duty and Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft franchises. Digital content continues to represent a significant portion of our revenues and increased by about $100 million year over year. The Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike content pack shattered Xbox LIVE launch records, surpassing 1.4 million downloads in the first 24 hours alone, and Blizzard's Battle.net service continues to grow its service offerings. To date, Call of Duty: Black Ops players have logged more than 1.2 billion online hours of online gameplay."

During the first quarter, Call of Duty: Black Ops became the best-selling game of all time in dollars across the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and the PC in the U.S. and Europe and was also the #1 game in the U.S. and Europe for the quarter.

Total unique online gamers playing Call of Duty: Black Ops were more than 33% greater than the total unique online gamers who played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the first five months after each game's release. During the quarter, digital downloads of the Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike content pack were more than 20% higher than digital downloads of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Pack during the comparable period in 2010.

The company plans to allocate the majority of its resources and focus toward opportunities which it expects will afford it the greatest competitive advantages, high-margin digital growth, and long-term success. These opportunities include new content for Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo franchises, and its next-generation MMO; robust investment in forthcoming Call of Duty titles, including a micro-transaction game for China; the development of a best-in-class digital platform surrounding the Call of Duty franchise; and a new property from Bungie.

For calendar year 2011, Activision Blizzard is raising its outlook from the estimates it provided in February. Since Blizzard Entertainment has not confirmed a launch date for its next global release, the company's calendar year outlook at this time does not include a new game from Blizzard in 2011.