Activision Blizzard loosed the details for their Q1 2013 sales results today, with the mega company having $1.324 billion in net revenue for the first three months of calendar year 2013 (January 1st – March 31st), compared to the $1.17 billion they posted at the same time in 2012.
These impressive numbers led Activision to be the #1 publisher during Q1 CY2013 in North America and Europe combined, with Skylanders the #1 selling franchise and Call of Duty at #2. On a game-by-game basis in North America and Europe, including figures and accessory packs, Skylanders Giants was the #1 selling game in dollars for Q1, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 right behind it in 2nd. Activision also reports a 100% year-on-year increase of digital revenue from the Call of Duty series.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard and 15th Hottest Man in Games, talked about the first quarter:
While we have had a solid start to the year, we now believe that the risks and uncertainties in the back half of 2013 are more challenging than our earlier view, especially in the holiday quarter. The shift in release dates of competing products, the disappointing launch of the Wii U, uncertainties regarding next-generation hardware, and subscriber declines in our World of Warcraft [down 1.3 million] business all raise concerns, as do continued challenges in the global economy. For these reasons, we remain cautious. However, our focused and disciplined approach to our business has served us well in the past, and through continued investment and careful management of our costs, we expect to continue delivering shareholder value over the long term as we have for the last 20 years.
Past this quarter and into the rest of 2013, Activision Blizzard mentioned that the PlayStation 3 version of Diablo III is expected this year, and that “Blizzard also plans to adapt the game for the [PS4],” though they failed to mention a release window for the next-gen version.
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