Activision Blizzard’s reported results show a global game publisher measured through revenue, net bookings, monthly active users, platform mix, segment performance and workforce indicators. The figures below cover fiscal years and quarters ended through December 31, 2022, with company definitions and limitations retained.
Key Activision Blizzard Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- $8.086 billion in consolidated net revenue was reported for Activision Blizzard in the year ended December 31, 2020.
- $8.803 billion in GAAP net revenue was reported for the consolidated company in the year ended December 31, 2021.
- $7.528 billion in GAAP net revenue was reported for the consolidated company in the year ended December 31, 2022.
- $2.41 billion in operating cash flow was reported for the consolidated company in 2021.
- $8.51 billion in annual net bookings was reported for Activision Blizzard in 2022.
- $5.38 billion in in-game net bookings was reported for the consolidated company in 2022.
- 43% of total net bookings came from mobile platforms in the year ended December 31, 2022.
- 389 million overall MAUs were reported for Activision Blizzard in Q4 2022.
- 397 million overall MAUs were reported for the global Activision Blizzard user base in Q4 2020.
- More than 100 million monthly players were sustained by Call of Duty across premium and free-to-play experiences during calendar year 2020.
- More than 35 million people played Overwatch 2 during its first month after the October 2022 launch.
- Mobile and ancillary revenue was $3.182 billion for Activision Blizzard in 2021.
- Digital online channels generated $1.965 billion, or 84% of net revenue, in Q4 2022.
- Candy Crush in-game net bookings grew approximately 20% year over year in every quarter of calendar year 2022.
- Game development teams grew more than 25% year over year during calendar year 2022.
- Women and non-binary representation was 26% globally at the end of November 2022.
- The proposed Microsoft transaction was valued at $68.7 billion at $95 per share when announced on January 18, 2022.
- Reported net cash was $8.4 billion at December 31, 2022, using the company’s stated cash, investments and gross debt measure.
Contents
- Revenue, profit and cash-flow trends
- Net bookings and digital monetization
- Monthly active users and franchise reach
- Platform and geography data
- Segment, mobile and game performance
- Workforce, representation and transaction data
Activision Blizzard Revenue, Profit and Cash-Flow Trends
Activision Blizzard’s consolidated GAAP revenue increased from 2020 to 2021 before declining in 2022. The reported figures are company totals, and the 2022 result includes reported revenue-deferral effects.
| Period | Consolidated GAAP net revenue | Operating margin or cash flow |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $6.489 billion revenue | $1.83 billion operating cash flow |
| 2020 | $8.086 billion revenue | $2.25 billion operating cash flow |
| 2021 | $8.803 billion revenue | 37% operating margin; $2.41 billion operating cash flow |
| 2022 | $7.528 billion revenue | 22% operating margin; $2.22 billion operating cash flow |
Sources: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results, Activision Blizzard Announces Q4 2021 Financial Results, and Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter and 2022 Financial Results.
The company reported 25% year-over-year revenue growth in 2020, from $6.489 billion in 2019 to $8.086 billion. In 2021, GAAP revenue reached $8.803 billion, up 9% year over year, while 2022 revenue was $7.528 billion.
Quarterly results also moved differently across the comparison periods. Q4 2020 GAAP net revenue was $2.413 billion versus $1.986 billion in Q4 2019, a 22% increase; Q4 2022 was $2.334 billion versus $2.163 billion in Q4 2021.
GAAP diluted earnings per share were $3.44 in 2021 and $1.92 in 2022. Operating cash flow was $2.25 billion in 2020, $2.41 billion in 2021 and $2.22 billion in 2022, compared with $1.83 billion in 2019.
The reported GAAP operating margin was 37% in 2021 and 22% in 2022. These comparisons are affected by different revenue-recognition timing, so the margin figures should not be treated as a like-for-like operating-quality measure without that qualification.
Activision Blizzard Net Bookings and Digital Monetization
Net bookings are an operating metric rather than GAAP revenue. They exclude the impact of revenue deferrals, while in-game net bookings primarily include microtransactions and downloadable content.
| Period | Annual net bookings | In-game net bookings |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $6.39 billion | — |
| 2020 | $8.42 billion | $4.85 billion |
| 2021 | $8.35 billion | $5.10 billion |
| 2022 | $8.51 billion | $5.38 billion |
Source: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter and 2022 Financial Results, with 2019–2020 net-bookings data also reported in Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results.
Digital-channel measures show the importance of online monetization. Digital-channel net bookings were $7.12 billion in 2020, compared with $4.93 billion in 2019, while digital-channel GAAP net revenue was $7.66 billion in 2021 and $6.63 billion in 2022.
Quarterly net bookings were $3.05 billion in Q4 2020, including $2.34 billion from digital channels and $1.32 billion in-game net bookings. Q4 2021 net bookings were $2.49 billion, including $1.24 billion in-game; Q4 2022 net bookings were $3.57 billion, including $1.82 billion in-game.
The Q4 categories are operating metrics with conceptual overlap and should not be added together. The distinction between net bookings and GAAP revenue is particularly important when comparing monetization with reported financial statements.
Activision Blizzard Monthly Active Users and Franchise Reach
Monthly active users, or MAUs, count accesses rather than guaranteed unique people. A person accessing multiple games can be counted more than once, and Activision and King may count the same game on two platforms or devices separately.
| Period | Overall MAUs | Activision | Blizzard | King |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2020 | 397 million | 128 million | 29 million | 240 million |
| Q4 2021 | 371 million | — | — | — |
| Q4 2022 | 389 million | — | — | — |
Source: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results, Activision Blizzard Announces Q4 2021 Financial Results, and Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter and 2022 Financial Results.
Overall MAUs were 397 million in Q4 2020, 371 million in Q4 2021 and 389 million in Q4 2022, with the last figure reported as up 5% year over year. These are global user-base measures under the company’s access-based definition, not unique-person population estimates.
In Q4 2020, Activision had 128 million MAUs, Blizzard had 29 million and King had 240 million. The figures show the different scale of the three reportable businesses, but they should not be interpreted as deduplicated users across the portfolio.
Call of Duty sustained more than 100 million monthly active players during calendar year 2020 across premium and free-to-play experiences. Call of Duty MAUs grew approximately 70% year over year in Q4 2020, while time spent in the franchise more than doubled year over year; the company supplied relative comparisons rather than absolute time totals.
Overwatch 2 was played by more than 35 million people in its first month after the October 2022 launch. That is a cumulative first-month player measure, not a monthly-active or lifetime unique-player estimate beyond that period.
Activision Blizzard Platform and Distribution Data
Platform categories are company-defined. In particular, mobile and ancillary includes mobile-device revenue plus non-platform-specific game-related revenue, so it is broader than mobile game revenue alone.
| Platform or category | 2020 revenue | 2020 mix | 2021 revenue | 2021 mix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Console | $2.784 billion | 34% | $2.637 billion | 30% |
| PC | $2.056 billion | 25% | $2.323 billion | 26% |
| Mobile and ancillary | $2.559 billion | 32% | $3.182 billion | 36% |
| Other | $687 million | 8% | $661 million | 8% |
Source: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results and Activision Blizzard Announces Q4 2021 Financial Results.
From 2020 to 2021, console revenue fell 5% from $2.784 billion to $2.637 billion, while PC revenue rose 13% from $2.056 billion to $2.323 billion. Mobile and ancillary revenue rose 24% from $2.559 billion to $3.182 billion, and its reported revenue mix increased from 32% to 36%.
Distribution-channel data gives a separate view of online adoption. In Q4 2022, digital online channels generated $1.965 billion, or 84% of net revenue, while retail generated $114 million, or 5%.
In Q4 2021, digital online channels generated $1.780 billion, or 82% of net revenue, while retail generated $125 million, or 6%. The digital category includes downloadable content, microtransactions, subscriptions, products and licensing royalties, so it is not limited to game downloads.
Activision Blizzard Segment, Mobile and Game Performance
Segment measures are reported before consolidated reconciliation items and therefore differ from consolidated GAAP results. Full-year 2022 segment net revenues were $8.072 billion, compared with $7.885 billion in 2021.
| Segment measure | Q4 2021 | Q4 2022 | Full-year 2021 | Full-year 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment net revenue | $2.260 billion | $3.372 billion | $7.885 billion | $8.072 billion |
| Segment operating income | $1.164 billion | $1.634 billion | $3.505 billion | $3.063 billion |
Source: Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth Quarter and 2022 Financial Results.
Q4 2022 segment operating income was $1.634 billion, compared with $1.164 billion in Q4 2021. Full-year segment operating income was $3.063 billion in 2022 versus $3.505 billion in 2021, reflecting a different direction between the quarterly and annual comparisons.
The three segments also posted distinct Q4 2022 growth rates. Activision segment revenue grew 60% year over year, or 67% on a constant-currency basis; Blizzard grew 89%, or 97% constant currency; and King grew 6%, or 11% constant currency.
Constant-currency growth is a non-GAAP analytical presentation using prior-period exchange rates. It excludes exchange-rate effects and should not be presented as a separate GAAP result.
Game-level indicators add detail to the segment totals. Candy Crush title in-game net bookings grew approximately 20% year over year in every quarter of calendar year 2022, while World of Warcraft franchise net bookings grew 40% in 2020 to the highest level in nearly a decade.
Full-year Call of Duty premium unit sales grew more than 40% year over year in calendar year 2020. Call of Duty in-game net bookings on console and PC grew more than 50% year over year in Q4 2020; both figures exclude other parts of the franchise as specified by the company.
Activision Blizzard Workforce, Representation and Transaction Data
Workforce and governance statistics provide context beyond sales and engagement. The company reported that game development teams grew more than 25% year over year during calendar year 2022, without publishing a corresponding headcount in the cited release.
Women and non-binary representation was 26% globally at the end of November 2022, compared with 24% a year earlier. These are company-reported end-of-November snapshots, not annual averages.
Shareholder participation data also has defined denominators. After the 2022 annual meeting, shareholders owning approximately 65% of outstanding shares were invited to shareholder engagement, and Activision Blizzard met with 35 institutions owning approximately 32% of outstanding shares.
Approximately 88% of votes cast at the 2022 annual meeting supported the say-on-pay proposal. That percentage uses votes cast as its denominator, not all outstanding shares.
Bobby Kotick’s 2022 salary was $62,500, described as the minimum required under California law. The figure excludes the value of certain benefits and is not total compensation.
The proposed Microsoft transaction was announced on January 18, 2022, at $68.7 billion inclusive of Activision Blizzard’s net cash, or $95 per share. This was an announced transaction value subject to approvals, not a realized post-closing valuation.
At December 31, 2022, Activision Blizzard reported $7.1 billion of cash and cash equivalents, $5.0 billion of short-term investments and $3.7 billion of gross debt. The company’s reported net cash was $8.4 billion, a company-defined derived measure using those balance-sheet items and rounded as reported.