Overwatch is a $1 billion franchise and is driving Activision’s strong sales

Overwatch has only been officially released for just under a year, but it’s already earned $1 billion. That puts Overwatch as the “eighth billion-dollar franchise in Activision Blizzard’s portfolio,” according to Activision Blizzard’s latest earnings report, joining games like Call of Duty and Skylanders. Overwatch continues to be a major driver of sales for the company, as well as Blizzard’s fastest growing franchise.

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WATCH: One artist finds the intersection between Overwatch and Dark Souls

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Overwatch’s launch date anniversary is quickly approaching, with new events and investments being announced continuously. Overwatch Uprising just concluded, adding a player-versus-environment cooperative brawl to the first-person shooter. Events like Uprising spark revenue from content, which certainly plays a part in the $1 billion number. Activision reported Blizzard’s revenue from in-game content grew more than 25 percent over last year, led by World of Warcraft content and Overwatch loot boxes. Related: Datamined Overwatch files point to a new event—maybe for the game’s anniversary Each month, Overwatch’s player base grows steadily, and is currently hovering just over 30 million players. That number is up five million players from when numbers were last updated in late January. Blizzard is expecting Overwatch’s success to continue accelerating as the Overwatch League, its big esports investment, kicks off later this year. During the earnings call, Blizzard had no update on the league’s progress.

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