By 
Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) entered the mobile space with its release of Call of Duty: Mobile in October of 2019, which generated an estimated $60 million in its first month of launch. With this success, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated that mobile is now the leading platform in revenue, during the company’s earnings call for Q4.
Mobile Growth for Activision Blizzard
“With the introduction of Call of Duty Mobile, we grew our player base from 40 million to 100 million players in less than a year,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “And we expect significant growth in the Call of Duty franchise in 2020 as compared to 2019, as a result of this and from other unannounced Call of Duty initiatives.”
The mobile first-person shooter title has surpassed 150 million downloads since its release, with placements on the top of the charts. With a free to play business model, the game has monetized its community of players through digital item purchases and advertisements. Activision Blizzard is currently working on other mobile game titles, as it plans to repeat previous success.
Success of Call of Duty: Mobile
“As for our third pillar, extending our acclaimed console and PC franchises to Mobile, the October launch of Call of Duty Mobile with one of the most successful in the industry history, driving Activision Publishing to record among the active users,” commented Coddy Johnson, President and COO of Activision Blizzard. “It also highlighted the opportunity for our other large franchises to reach hundreds of millions of new players once they expand on the mobile.”
In the year ending December 31, 2019, Activision Blizzard reported mobile revenue of $2.2 billion, with console at $1.92 billion and PC at $1.7 billion. This was led by the growth of upfront and in-game revenues from Call of Duty across all platforms. Activision had 128 million monthly active users (MAUs), Blizzard had 32 million MAUs, and King had 249 million MAUs.
With upcoming titles like Overwatch 2, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, and more, Activision CFO Dennis Durkin is “confident that ongoing execution… will deliver growth… over the long term.”
