Uncertain Times
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick thinks people will turn to free mobile games during economic uncertainty
"Having free games on phones is going to probably be a big way to grow the audience"
Company Profile
Activision Blizzard
Website
www.activisionblizzard.com
About
Activision Blizzard, formerly Activision, is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi, and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games (formerly Vivendi Universal Games), announced on December 2nd, 2007.
Related People
Clement Xue
Head of Activison Blizzard Media
Ken Wee
Chief strategy officer
Bobby Kotick
CEO
Daniel Alegre
COO & President
Carin Huurnink
senior animator
+2 more
Accolades
Articles featuring Activision Blizzard
Candy Crush Growth
Activision Blizzard revenue drops but profit increases over Q1 2020
Two new games utilising existing IP revealed too
Helping Veterans
Activision Blizzard donates $2 million to help veterans find employment during the COVID-19 pandemic
"We've seen a huge increase in veterans asking our partners for assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic"
Call Me Maybe
Activision Blizzard CEO gives out personal number to employees amid pandemic
Bobby Kotick also confirms all games are on track
App Annie Top Publishers
Tencent reigns supreme as the top-grossing mobile publisher for 2020
NetEase and Activision Blizzard finish the top three
$1.3 Million Salary
Activision Blizzard appoints Google veteran Daniel Alegre as new COO
"Activision Blizzard is at an exciting point in its history"
Anime And Animation
Activision Blizzard co-president leaks Diablo and Overwatch series in the works for Netflix
Nick van Dyk profile details both shows are planned
Winning Rights
Report: Google paid $160 million for Activision Blizzard esports streaming rights
It covers Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Call of Duty
Umph And Wump
Update: King taps Crash Bandicoot license for new endless runner
12-year absence from the platform
"significant Growth"
Call of Duty: Mobile shoots through 150 million downloads in three months
Mobile now leading platform for Activision
King Of The Hill
King accounted for 34% of Activision Blizzard's FY19 revenues
$2.3 billion in sales
Blizzard In The Cloud
Activision Blizzard and Google sign up for strategic "multi-year" streaming partnership
YouTube becomes exclusive streaming partner outside of China
Testing Testing
Activision Blizzard unveils "King's Council" group to test mobile ads
Specialist players sought out depending on their playtime and engagement factor
Limited Time
Call of Duty: Mobile brings back the dead with Zombies mode
Classic map Shi No Numa makes its debut on mobile
Financials
Activision Blizzard and King revenue drops as Candy Crush stays top-grossing franchise in US
Free-to-play title had a monthly active user base of 247 million over the previous quarter.
Blizzcon 2019
Blizzard unleashes new Diablo Immortal video
Including all the things you know and love about Diablo
Job News
Activision Blizzard recruits new chief marketing officer and chief people officer
Firm brings new chief people officer and CMO on board
Under Investigation
Report claims Activision Blizzard has avoided taxes on billions
The Candy Crush publisher moved $5.59 billion to subsidiaries in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013 to 2017
Job News
Epic Games hires Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer to drive esports
"This has been the toughest decision of my life"
No Joke
Blizzard learned a "huge number of lessons" from Diablo Immortal reveal
Developer says it's still focused on PC titles despite partnerhing with NetEase on the new mobile game
Sales Decline
King revenue falls year-on-year to $529m despite growth in MAUs
PC declines and Candy Crush Friends Saga impacts profitability
Money Money Money
Newzoo: Tencent responsible for 15% of 2018's global games revenue
Chinese tech and entertainment giant saw close-to $20bn coming in last year
Job News
Here's where 209 jobs were cut in Blizzard's US business
We now know just where layoffs have been made in the Overwatch firm's American workforce
Research
Newzoo: Mobile gamers are more receptive to brands than non-gamers
The Activision-Blizzard partnered Betting on Billions paper makes key insights into mobile gaming demographics
Potential For Concern
Activision Blizzard highlights risk factors for negative impact of its job cuts on financial performance
SEC filing cites the effect of the company's eight per cent workforce cull might have as a risk factor
Reignited
Com2us launches Skylanders Ring of Heroes worldwide
Available in 120 countries
Ka-ching
Activision Blizzard and EA bosses Kotick and Wilson appear on Top 100 Most Overpaid CEOs list for a second time
Third year that games industry execs have shown up in this ranking
Too Little, Too Late?
Why Activision Blizzard’s mobile strategy is between a rock and a hard place
The wrong IP at the wrong time
Time For Change
US labour organisation pens open-letter to games developers urging unionisation
AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer Liz Shuler fronts message
Europe A Priority
Activision Blizzard shuts down King’s San Francisco studio as it focuses on European development
Mobile developer pulls out of US altogether
Smart Move
Activision Blizzard: "Mobile is a top priority for us"
Expect more mobile games from the Call of Duty and Overwatch publisher
Hail To The King
Candy Crush maker King's revenue up in 2018 to $2bn, touts $100m ads business
"The next phase about where the ad business heading is about continued scaling"
Studio Closure
Report: King's Seattle studio to close
Decision results in 78 job losses
Job Losses
Activision Blizzard to cut eight per cent of workforce despite "record revenue"
Firm says development workforce to increase by 20 per cent
Job Losses
Report: Activision Blizzard set for hundreds of layoffs
Unclear what teams will be affected by decision
Jobs News
Activision Blizzard appoints new Activision, King and emerging businesses presidents
Follows departures of both Eric Hirshberg and Mike Morhaime
Jobs News
Activision Blizzard set to fire chief financial officer
Spencer Neumann could be about to join streaming giant Netflix
All Go
Blizzard reportedly working on a Pokemon Go-styled World of Warcraft spin-off for mobile
The game reportedly has single-player mechanics
Faustian Bargain
Why Diablo Immortal’s detractors won that battle but have lost the war
Blizzard’s difficult decision
Come Again
Activision Blizzard labels Diablo Immortal fan reception as "muted"
The games giant also reiterated that Mobile remains the largest and fastest growing platform for gaming in the world
Crushed
Revenues at Candy Crush dev King fall by $22m year-on-year
Monthly active users grew to 262 million, however
Uh Oh
Blizzard is working on bringing multiple franchises to mobile
Some of the titles will be developed internally
Crushing It
Candy Crush developer King has made more than $1 billion so far this year
Monthly active users for King's portfolio hit 270 million
Winner Winner Second Dinner
Former Hearthstone game director Ben Brode opens new studio Second Dinner
The ex-Blizzard dev took to Twitter to reveal the news but details are sparse
Why Not
Activision Blizzard has eyes on battle royale's mobile success
King has been working on a Call of Duty title for mobile
Crushed It
Candy Crush Saga revival propels King revenues to record $534m
King’s monthly active users jumped up to 285 million
Activision Blizzard Financials Q4 Fy17
Candy Crush franchise growth nudges King's 2017 revenues to a sweet $1.99 billion
Despite consistently falling MAUs across the company overall
Bulls & Bears
Which mobile game stocks performed best in 2017?
On the up
Activision Financials Q3 Fy17
King generated almost a third of Activision Blizzard's $1.6 billion revenues in Q3
Candy Crush franchise has its strongest quarter yet
Activision Blizzard Financials Q2 Fy17
Activision Blizzard hits $1.63 billion in revenues as King's bookings per user grow for the 8th consecutive quarter
Retained players are spending more than ever