Activision Blizzard Q2 financials show Overwatch is a hit

The latest financials for Activision Blizard have been released and it’s been a healthy period for Blizzard thanks to the release of Overwatch. Diablo doesn’t feature much  except to tell you Overwatch is more popular than Diablo 3. Still, it’s always good to see what’s going on.

Some of the highlights include:

• Activision Blizzard had 491 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in the quarter.
• Blizzard had the biggest quarterly online player community in its history, with MAUs of 33 million, up 29% quarter-over-quarter and 13% year-over-year. This reflects the successful launch of Overwatch and strength across the broader portfolio, includingHearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, which had record quarterly MAUs, and World of Warcraft, which had double-digit MAU growth quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.
• On May 24, 2016, Blizzard launched Overwatch which now has over 15 million players globally, including box and digital sales, internet game room players, and multi-user console households. In China, Overwatch broke the previous record set by Diablo  III as the fastest-selling PC game in the market’s history.¹ Overwatch also currently holds the number one position in Korean Internet Game Rooms with over 30% share of play time.
• Players have spent about 500 million hours playing Blizzard’s Overwatch, with additional content updates ahead.
• Activision Blizzard GAAP revenues from in-game content reached a record of over $900 million this quarter. Activision Blizzard non-GAAP (as previously defined) revenues from in-game content reached a record of over $1 billion this quarter^B. In-game content continues to be a rapidly growing part of the business.
• Blizzard had its biggest segment revenue quarter and first half year, ever. Blizzard’s quarterly segment operating income nearly tripled vs. the second quarter last year. Additionally, Blizzard had record second quarter GAAP revenues and record quarterly non-GAAP revenues (as previously defined) in China. Blizzard’s overall performance was driven in particular by Overwatch’s outstanding launch, World of Warcraft’s strong pre-expansion momentum, with Legion pre-purchases tracking in-line with the previous expansion, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’s double digit revenue growth year-over-year.

It’s always good to see how the other franchises are doing as it puts Diablo into perspective when it comes to where Blizzard will focus their attention. As for Overwatch, well personally I don’t see what all the fuss is about, it’s another OK shooter, but Blizzard fans seem to love it.