US games publisher Activision Blizzard revenue dropped over the last quarter but has seen a jump in profit.

This information was revealed via the firm's quarterly financial results for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2020.

Net revenue for the quarter totalled $1.79 billion, a decrease of 2.2 per cent from the $1.83 billion year-over-year. However, digital net revenue witnessed a rise of 3.47 per cent at $1.44 billion earned in Q1 2020, when compared to the $1.39 billion made in the first quarter of 2019.

Profit for Activision Blizzard across the period was up at $505 million, representing an increase of 11.48 per cent year-over-year. This was helped by costs and expenses for the firm being down by $33 million.

King's games catalogue brought in 273 million monthly active users, with March in particular seeing a surge due to the ongoing pandemic.

The Candy Crush franchise also grew year-over-year in each month of the quarter for MAUs, with double-digit growth pointed out in March.

Two new games

"We delivered strong financial results for the first quarter, and are raising our full-year outlook. I have been awestruck by the strength of our employees and their families during this difficult time," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.

Activision Blizzard CFO Dennis Durking added: "Turning to the second half of the year, our planned slate includes a new Call of Duty premium title, two releases based on our extensive library of IP from Activision, and Blizzard’s Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft."

One of these games in the works could potentially be the recently soft-launched Crash Bandicoot Mobile from King with Activision looking to leverage its most well-known properties.

At the beginning of May, Activision Blizzard donated $2 million to help veterans find employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.