As expected, October shaped up to be an eventful month for Activision. After starting the month with very impressive numbers for Call of Duty mobile, the company almost went off track after getting involved in the politically sensitive topic of Hong Kong governance. While that remains a sensitive topic, the issue seems to have died down a bit.
And we are about to wrap up the month back on top as the good news continues to flow. Activision announced earlier in the week that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the latest release of the popular franchise, generated $600 million of sales over its first 3 days on the shelf. Very few IP can command that type of interest, and I continue to think the collective value of IP at Activision Blizzard remains under-appreciated.
Along with the announcement of good sales of Call of Duty, Activision also announced the launch of Call of Duty League, which further strengthens Activision’s esports efforts.
The good news is likely set to continue with Blizzcon this weekend where the company will likely release additional details on new games coming down the pipeline including possible Diablo 4.
While Diablo Immortal, the mobile version of Diablo that is set to be released soon, did not get a warm reception at last year’s Blizzcon, the gameplay videos they’ve released don’t look bad. Seems quite decent for a mobile game.
Game on!
Disclosures: I own shares in ATVI but have no intention to transact in the next 48 hours.