Activision Blizzard recently released its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 22-23, with total revenue down 22% year-over-year to $1.77 billion, net booking value down 29% to $1.48 billion, and net profit down 36% to $395 million for the quarter.
Activision saw the biggest drop, with revenue down 49 percent to $453 million due to poor Call of Duty Vanguard performance and declining player engagement in Call of Duty Warzone, though Call of Duty Mobile's revenue was on par with the first quarter of last year.
Activision's monthly active users in the quarter were 100 million, down 33% year-on-year, the lowest point since Call of Duty Mobile Games went online in 2019 and attracted a large user base to the series.
Activision revealed that the latest "Call of Duty" and the new content of "Warzone" developed by Infinity Ward Studio this year are currently progressing very well. The 2019 Call of Duty Modern Warfare reboot is the most successful Call of Duty production to date, and this year's new title will be its sequel and the most advanced game in the entire series.
Blizzard's revenue slipped 43 percent in the first quarter to $274 million, officially blaming it on the "merchandise cycle of the Warcraft series." As for how to increase revenue in the near future, Blizzard said that more details of the first Warcraft mobile game will be announced in a few weeks, while Diablo Immortal will go live on June 2, and the new PC version will be publicly tested. In addition, the development of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 is also very smooth.
Like Activision, Blizzard's monthly active users are also declining, falling 19% to 22 million at the same time, which is the lowest point since Activision Blizzard reported the total number of monthly active users according to the department since the second quarter of 2016.
Compared to the underperformance of other divisions, King's division increased revenue by 12% year-over-year to $682 million in the quarter, and the Candy Legends series achieved double-digit year-on-year growth and became the highest-paid game series in the U.S. app store for 19 consecutive quarters.
The earnings report also mentioned that the revenue of the company's games in the physical sales channel fell by 43% to $85 million, and now only accounts for 5% of the company's total revenue. The company's revenue in the "other" category also fell 22% year-over-year to $94 million, mainly from league revenue sharing in the Call of Duty and Overwatch esports businesses.