Warzone 2 and Overwatch 2’s release helped Activision Blizzard reach new player peaks at the end of last year, but the first quarter of 2023’s financial results might’ve proved this was a flash in the pan for the titanic gaming company.
Both FPS juggernauts, each sequels to 2010s titles, lost a large portion of their player bases since both follow-ups were released, according to the company’s latest financial reports, released on April 26. Activision lost 13 million players compared to their last quarter, while Blizzard’s overall player count slipped by 18 million gamers.
At this point last year, Activision had two million more monthly players. The sequel to the beloved Warzone took the position of Activision’s flagship title, initially hitting the ground running in Dec. 2022.
Just as Warzone 2 was hot off the shelves, the player base skyrocketed by 14 million monthly users, reaching an average of 111 million. The end of 2023’s first quarter proved the new game hype couldn’t last forever though; Activision suffered a devastating loss, almost returning them to the previous quarter’s numbers before Warzone 2’s release.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, Blizzard had 45 million monthly users, with the end of 2023’s first quarter seeing the numbers plummeting to 27 million.
While Modern Warfare 2 did beat Vanguard on sales, the sudden drop in player count and hype might be a concerning revelation for Activision Blizzard bosses.
Activision Blizzard’s overall cash flow took a couple of blows compared to 2022’s first quarter too, though it wasn’t all doom and gloom in that department. Per the reports, the Overwatch and CoD developers saw a $65 million drop in operating cash flow, despite net revenues increasing by roughly $610 million compared to last year.
It seems Activision Blizzard will now have to look toward a bounceback next quarter as Diablo IV finally makes its way to gaming libraries across the globe.
