Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Crossed $1 Billion in Sales Within 10 Days of Launch, Says Activision

Modern Warfare II delivered the highest opening-quarter sell-through in the franchise's history.

By Reuters | Updated: 7 February 2023 10:59 IST

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Crossed $1 Billion in Sales Within 10 Days of Launch, Says Activision

Photo Credit: Reuters

Activision's upbeat results follow drab showings from rival Electronics Arts and Xbox maker Microsoft

Highlights

Inflation causing gamers to stick with known gaming franchises
Activision expects full-year adjusted sales to grow in high-single digits
Adjusted sales in the quarter ended December 31 came in at $3.57 billion

Videogame publisher Activision Blizzard beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted sales on Monday, thanks to the success of the latest game in its Call of Duty franchise.

A string of launches in October and November, including

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Warzone 2.0, and World of Warcraft: Dragonflight from the fantastical world of Azeroth, helped the company hold the attention of the gaming community.

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As inflation squeezes budgets of American households, more gamers are expected to stick to their favorite gaming franchises, instead of experimenting with newer titles from other studios, helping companies such as Activision, analysts have said.

Modern Warfare II delivered the highest opening-quarter sell-through in the franchise's history and crossed the $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,275 crore) mark within 10 days of its late-October launch, the company said.

The company expects its full-year adjusted sales to grow at least in high-single digits, bolstered by the launch of games including Diablo IV.

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Adjusted sales in the quarter ended December 31 came in at $3.57 billion (roughly Rs. 29,540 crore), compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.16 billion (roughly Rs. 26,150 crore), according to Refinitiv data.

Activision's upbeat results follow drab showings from rival Electronics Arts and Xbox maker Microsoft.

Activision's $69-billion (roughly Rs. 5,70,100 crore) takeover by Microsoft is being challenged by the US Federal Trade Commission and being investigated by EU authorities. Activision said the companies are continuing to engage with regulators reviewing the transaction.

World of Warcraft China Shut Down Cuts Off Millions of Gamers

The end of Blizzard's long-term partnership with China's second-biggest gaming firm NetEase will rescind gamers' access to the World of Warcraft game in the country until an alternative partnership is formed.

That is expected to hit the US company's net bookings by $250 million (roughly Rs. 2,070 crore) in fiscal 2023, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey wrote in a note last month.

Fourth quarter net income fell to $403 million( roughly Rs. 3,333 crore), or 51 cents per share, from $564 million (roughly Rs. 4,666 crore), or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Fantastic gunplay
Low system requirements
Variety of multiplayer modes
Great character moments
Expansive arsenal
Rewarding multiplayer progression

Bad
Constant game crashes
Boring first half of the campaign
No ranked in multiplayer
Lobbies reset after every match
SBMM not properly optimised
Difficult to differentiate enemies

Read detailed Activision Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II review

Genre Shooter

Platform PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player, Multiplayer

Series Call of Duty

PEGI Rating 18+

More Activision Games

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