Activision Blizzard has seen a significant drop in sales for the first quarter of 2022 as demand for the popular video game franchise, Call of Duty, fell.
The video game company saw a drop in profit of nearly 37% from a year ago with first-quarter profits being $619 million in 2021 and $395 in 2022. Total sales for the first quarter of 2022 were $1.77 billion which fell short of expectations of $1.82 billion. The significant sales drop is largely attributed to weaker demand for the latest installment of the franchise “Call of Duty: Vanguard” as well as dropping engagement with the free-to-play “Call of Duty: Warzone.”
Activision Blizzard, along with several other gaming companies, has seen drops in sales as the world is returning to pre-pandemic habits. Activision Blizzard specifically has also been facing backlash due to allegations of internal sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees.
The company has stated that much of the drop in sales is attributed to product cycle timing for the Warcraft franchise as well as legal fees associated with the Microsoft acquisition.
Microsoft Agreed to buy Activision Blizzard back in January for $95 a share totaling roughly $75 billion. The acquisition was an attempt to drive more customers into their cloud-gaming service. The deal also made Microsoft the third-largest video game company in the world by sales.
Source: CNBC
