Activision Blizzard Q2 2021 Financial Results Press Release

[Staff 1,366]

 

The financial details of Activision Blizzard's second quarter of 2021 have been posted in a press release ahead of the earnings call today, which also addresses the lawsuit and the working environment in the company.

You can read the full press release here, but here are a few highlights related to the lawsuit and Blizzard Q2 earnings, including Diablo: Immortal being delayyed into 2022, WoW "bookings" growing year-over-year (however monthly active users dropped 1 million to 26 since Q1), Hearthstone's Forged in the Barrens also doing better than the previous expansion and more: 

Press Release (Source)

“With respect to our financial performance, we are pleased that the company continued to deliver strong results in the second quarter, and we are raising our outlook for the year,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “We remain intensely focused on the well-being of our employees and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that our company has a welcoming, supportive and safe environment where all of our team members can thrive.”

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Commitment to a Safe Working Environment 

Following serious allegations regarding the company’s employment, compensation and workplace practices, Activision Blizzard is taking swift action to ensure a safe and welcoming work environment for all employees. We have engaged a law firm to conduct a review of our policies and procedures to ensure that we have and maintain best practices to promote a respectful and inclusive workplace. We will be adding additional staff to our Compliance and Employee Relations teams, strengthening our capabilities in investigating employee concerns. We are creating safe spaces, moderated by third parties, for employees to speak out and share areas for improvements. We will be evaluating managers and leaders across the company with respect to their compliance with our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences. And we will be adding resources to ensure and enhance our consideration of diverse candidate slates for all open positions. The leadership of the company is committed to creating the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe  ulture possible.

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Blizzard

• Blizzard’s launch of Burning Crusade(TM) Classic in June marked the start of what is intended to be a very significant 18-month period for content releases. Blizzard had 26 million MAUsD in the second quarter.
• World of Warcraft net bookings(B) again grew a double-digit percentage year-over-year, driven by the launch of Burning Crusade Classic. Subscriber numbers and hours played were higher following the release, demonstrating the importance of Classic in enabling more ways for players to engage. World of Warcraft remains on track for much stronger engagement this year than is typical outside of a modern expansion year.
• The latest expansion of the Hearthstone® franchise, Forged in the Barrens(TM), delivered expansion-over-expansion net bookings(B) growth for a second consecutive release following its March launch. With the latest expansion, United in Stormwind(TM), launching today, and Mercenaries(TM), a new mode in the popular role-playing genre planned for the coming months, we expect the financial performance of Hearthstone to strengthen in the second half of the year.
• The highly anticipated Diablo® II: Resurrected(TM) will launch on PC and console on September 23. On mobile, Diablo Immortal(TM) continued to progress well through testing, receiving excellent feedback for its gameplay. The team is pursuing additional opportunities to make the title even more engaging for a wider audience, with the launch now slated for first half of 2022. Blizzard continues to make strong progress on Diablo® 4 and is allocating substantial resources to creating exciting in-game content to drive engagement over multiple years.
• Overwatch® 2 development passed an important internal milestone in recent weeks. After a great response to the recent community update, the team is looking forward to revealing more of the game in the coming months as they approach the later stages of production.

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Company Outlook

In July 2021, the State of California filed a complaint against the Company alleging violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Equal Pay Act. The complaint was recently filed, and we are taking actions to address the concerns of employees and other key stakeholders and the adverse Activision Blizzard Announces Q2 2021 Financial Results consequences to our business. If we experience prolonged periods of adverse publicity, significantly reduced productivity or other negative consequences relating to this matter, our business likely would be adversely impacted. We are carefully monitoring all aspects of our business for any such impacts.

[Bobbis 208]

TBF we won't see the impact of the lawsuit until the Q3 results, since Q2 is April, May, June, and that hit in July. Everything for Q2 should look good, with TBCC launching, 9.1 hitting, and Hearthstone expac for Blizz. The 1m drop in MAUsD isn't surprising with 9.0 going on for so long.

The Q3 report in November/December should show a revenue hit, and lower MAUsD, but it'll be interesting to see how much.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Bobbis
1m MAUsD comment.